Lisp: A Language for Internet Scripting and Programming (1998) [pdf]

Post by lisper » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 7:47 AM UTC

jimbokun wrote: post #74

lisper wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Personally, what I'm hoping happens is that we get one, single better compile target That is a terrific idea in theory, but the last time anyone tried to do that the result was the JVM.

And the JVM is wonderful! Incredible amounts of R&D devoted to optimizing its performance, broad hardware and os support, with lots of interesting languages to choose from running on top of it.

Post by Crito » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 3:42 PM UTC

Pacabel wrote: post #84

Crito wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Plus, the (classic intro-to-LISP) notion that "it has a simple syntax with few constructs so it must be easy to program in" has to die. Assembly has very simple syntax too. I wouldn't write a large program in it." Suppose we amend that to simple high-level constructs? I don't think I've ever picked up a language as fast as I picked up scheme. Not even python.

If you're using it seriously and for a significant period of time, the time and effort spent initially learning a programming language ends up becoming a smaller and less relevant factor. What ends up mattering most is how productive you are once you're familiar with it. This is where a language like Python, and most other widely used languages, tend to be much better than Scheme for most programmers. Scheme may be e…