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I realize lisp is popular here on hn, but it's absurd to compare it to fortran in terms of influence on the field of numerical computation.
by GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
I realize lisp is popular here on hn, but it's absurd to compare it to fortran in terms of influence on the field of numerical computation.
- nickpsecurity 11y agoI didnt say anything about LISP's effect on numerical computation. I'm saying it and its decendents had a similar effect on symbolic computation and functional programming. It axiomitized computation, created extremely flexible programming system, dominated in AI, and continued widespread in Comp Sci via scheme. In terms of its prior uptake & results, I think it compares favorably to Fortran. It's even making a comeback via Clojure while Fortran is still legacy stuff.
- cbd1984 11y agoPerhaps not Lisp in specific, but the idea of symbolic computation (that is, computers are more than Big Adding Machines) is important and should be on there.
- nickpsecurity 11y agoThat's what I'm getting at with LISP the exemplar and most successful implementation of the concept. That plus functional techniques that followed are huge innovations. Their advantages keep showing up over and over throughout decades in enhancement of them and in other works.