4 ms·

If you insist that you know better and aren't trolling, explain why Lisp isn't used in the real world then? CL is like the scripting languages in capacity and

by berntb 11y ago

If you insist that you know better and aren't trolling, explain why Lisp isn't used in the real world then? CL is like the scripting languages in capacity and ease of development -- but more. And it is both faster and earlier than the 1990s, when those scripting languages started to grow like weeds. Why did Perl, Ruby, PHP et al eat CLs lunch? (I've seen explanations that basically boil down to fashion, too many academics and/or fear of different syntax. They seems possible, but hardly a reason why a capable tool was ignored? New things did get big around that time frame -- e.g. OO and testing -- so conservatism... hardly?)

cageface 11y ago
I'm being sarcastic. People that claim Lisp is superior to other languages are the ones that have to explain why nobody uses it. Personally I think that there are a lot of good ideas in Lisp but most of those good ideas have been absorbed by other languages now and the ones that haven't (s-expr syntax in particular), are perhaps not really such good ideas after all.
- mikelevins 11y ago
  Nobody has to explain why nobody uses it. For one thing, the claim is an exaggeration. Lisp does get used. It gets used enough to keep a small number of Lisp companies alive. Yeah, it's a niche language; so what? People have been claiming it's doomed for over half a century, and in all likelihood will be claiming it's doomed in another half century. For another thing, the reason people don't use it is obvious: they like something else better. So what? All that matters is that Lisp is a better language for Lisp hackers. It makes them happier and more productive. That has kept Lisp alive. It will probably continue to do so. Its relative popularity--or lack of it--implies little about its technical merits. Technical merit and popularity are at most tenuously connected.

4 ms·

If you insist that you know better and aren't trolling, explain why Lisp isn't used in the real world then? CL is like the scripting languages in capacity and

by berntb 11y ago

cageface 11y ago
I'm being sarcastic. People that claim Lisp is superior to other languages are the ones that have to explain why nobody uses it. Personally I think that there are a lot of good ideas in Lisp but most of those good ideas have been absorbed by other languages now and the ones that haven't (s-expr syntax in particular), are perhaps not really such good ideas after all.
- mikelevins 11y ago
  Nobody has to explain why nobody uses it. For one thing, the claim is an exaggeration. Lisp does get used. It gets used enough to keep a small number of Lisp companies alive. Yeah, it's a niche language; so what? People have been claiming it's doomed for over half a century, and in all likelihood will be claiming it's doomed in another half century. For another thing, the reason people don't use it is obvious: they like something else better. So what? All that matters is that Lisp is a better language for Lisp hackers. It makes them happier and more productive. That has kept Lisp alive. It will probably continue to do so. Its relative popularity--or lack of it--implies little about its technical merits. Technical merit and popularity are at most tenuously connected.