Learn lisp in 5 steps
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Learn lisp in 5 steps
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Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#2I keep seeing all this talk of learning lisp but not a whole lot of rationale. Why should we learn lisp?
What will it replace? Why will it replace? etc...
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#3This list of steps applicable to learning any programming language.
1.) Switch to appropriate environment
2.) Download an IDE built for your language
3.) 2 + [insert language]Lint
4.) Read some books on the language
5.) Write a program that actually does something useful
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#4I keep seeing all this talk of learning lisp but not a whole lot of rationale. Why should we learn lisp? What will it replace? Why will it replace? etc...
Paul Graham has half a dozen good essays in answer to your question:
http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#5I keep seeing all this talk of learning lisp but not a whole lot of rationale. Why should we learn lisp? What will it replace? Why will it replace? etc...
Why do you need rationale? I use lisp because its the language that gives me the most joy, you can spend a decade giving me rationale about how language X is better, but unless it can give me more joy i won't switch. But if you insist: common lisp is designed to write software. That is its sole purpose in existence. Its purpose is not to be object oriented, procedural, functional, declarative, low-level, high-level, big, small, pretty, cool, modern, fashionable, popular, or anything else, its common lisp, a language for people to write software in. For certain types of software and for certain types of people it is the best language, for other combinations, it is not so good.
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#6Step #2 involves learning LISP. As I embark to learn elisp, am I then to re-install Linux and emacs and SLIME? Then make my way to step 2 again...
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#7I keep seeing all this talk of learning lisp but not a whole lot of rationale. Why should we learn lisp? What will it replace? Why will it replace? etc...
Why do you need rationale? I use lisp because its the language that gives me the most joy, you can spend a decade giving me rationale about how language X is better, but unless it can give me more joy i won't switch. But if you insist: common lisp is designed to write software. That is its sole purpose in existence. Its purpose is not to be object oriented, procedural, functional, declarative, low-level, high-level,…
Would you run away if I told you to? Probably not.
Would you run away if I told you there was an impending explosion? Probably.
Its one thing to tell people to do things. Its another to explain to them the benefits of doing so. Seemed like common sense...
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#8This list of steps applicable to learning any programming language. 1.) Switch to appropriate environment 2.) Download an IDE built for your language 3.) 2 + [insert language]Lint 4.) Read some books on the language 5.) Write a program that actually does something useful
Requiring an IDE specific to your language should be the exception, not the rule. Why the hell should you have to learn a completely different editor just to try out a new language? Is the language really so verbose and inexpressive that you can't even maintain it by hand?
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#9I feel like anyone on HN has a basic idea of how to go about learning a programming language. If you sub in appropriate $books and $IDEs, there's nothing language-specific in the post. And to be honest, nothing all that new or all that notable.
Re: Learn lisp in 5 steps
#10I keep seeing all this talk of learning lisp but not a whole lot of rationale. Why should we learn lisp? What will it replace? Why will it replace? etc...