The Nature of Lisp (2006)
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The Nature of Lisp (2006)
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Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#2"Why on Earth would anyone want to use a language with such horrific syntax?!"
What is it with statements like this? It just sounds like a 'meme' to me, that everyone hears (even from advocates like this one) at first that the 'syntax' (of which there is a lot less than most languages in a Lisp) is 'horrible'?
Of course, we, the learn-ed of Lisp, say that after a while the 'parens just disappear', which they don't, but they sure help (when combined with Paredit) in defining code like structures that can be manipulated with ease in your editor.
I know the author is just trying to do a bit of a 'sandwich' with the article, but please, advocates and enemies of Lisp, just give up on picking on the parens. It's stupid and been done a million times. It's like 'why do we have to type so much to enter programs! such a pain!'.
Boring.
Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#3"Why on Earth would anyone want to use a language with such horrific syntax?!" What is it with statements like this? It just sounds like a 'meme' to me, that everyone hears (even from advocates like this one) at first that the 'syntax' (of which there is a lot less than most languages in a Lisp) is 'horrible'? Of course, we, the learn-ed of Lisp, say that after a while the 'parens just disappear', which they don't, b…
That said, it would be nice if lisp used square brackets for this instead. Easier to type on boring old US QWERTY.
Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#4Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#5"Why on Earth would anyone want to use a language with such horrific syntax?!" What is it with statements like this? It just sounds like a 'meme' to me, that everyone hears (even from advocates like this one) at first that the 'syntax' (of which there is a lot less than most languages in a Lisp) is 'horrible'? Of course, we, the learn-ed of Lisp, say that after a while the 'parens just disappear', which they don't, b…
A language’s syntax is the very first thing you encounter. And if you are not familiar with it, it will be a major sore point when trying to learn the language.
So yes, while complaints about syntax are largely irrelevant once you already know the language, the complaints will be there for any new user.
Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#6Previous discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4765067 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9575786 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1319034
In case you or anyone reading this were unaware, there is a link underneath stories called "past," which provides the service nathell did in parent.
Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#7"Why on Earth would anyone want to use a language with such horrific syntax?!" What is it with statements like this? It just sounds like a 'meme' to me, that everyone hears (even from advocates like this one) at first that the 'syntax' (of which there is a lot less than most languages in a Lisp) is 'horrible'? Of course, we, the learn-ed of Lisp, say that after a while the 'parens just disappear', which they don't, b…
That said, it would be nice if lisp used square brackets for this instead. Easier to type on boring old US QWERTY.
Rebol and Red are very Lisp like and use square brackets instead of paren's.
Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#8"Why on Earth would anyone want to use a language with such horrific syntax?!" What is it with statements like this? It just sounds like a 'meme' to me, that everyone hears (even from advocates like this one) at first that the 'syntax' (of which there is a lot less than most languages in a Lisp) is 'horrible'? Of course, we, the learn-ed of Lisp, say that after a while the 'parens just disappear', which they don't, b…
That said, it would be nice if lisp used square brackets for this instead. Easier to type on boring old US QWERTY.
No problem, just a couple reader macros!
(Adapted from an answer on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1988/how-far-can-lisp-ma...)
;; Make [] == ()
(set-syntax-from-char #\[ #\( )
(defun lbrace-reader (stream inchar)
(declare (ignore inchar))
(read-delimited-list #\] stream t))
(set-macro-character #\[ #'lbrace-reader)
(set-macro-character #\] (get-macro-character #\) ))
(set-syntax-from-char #\] #\) )Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#9Previous discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4765067 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9575786 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1319034
In case you or anyone reading this were unaware, there is a link underneath stories called "past," which provides the service nathell did in parent.
Huh I never knew that. Have I been completely oblivious of it, or has that been added recently ?
Re: The Nature of Lisp (2006)
#10"Why on Earth would anyone want to use a language with such horrific syntax?!" What is it with statements like this? It just sounds like a 'meme' to me, that everyone hears (even from advocates like this one) at first that the 'syntax' (of which there is a lot less than most languages in a Lisp) is 'horrible'? Of course, we, the learn-ed of Lisp, say that after a while the 'parens just disappear', which they don't, b…
That said, it would be nice if lisp used square brackets for this instead. Easier to type on boring old US QWERTY.
Some lisps use parenthesis and brackets interchangeably. Some people prefer to strategically alternate them, but you're free to use them exclusively.
Guile Scheme, for example:
scheme@(guile-user)> [list 1 2 3]
$1 = (1 2 3)
scheme@(guile-user)> (list 1 2 3)
$2 = (1 2 3)
scheme@(guile-user)> [car '[1 2 3]]
$3 = 1