Common Lisp is not the all-feature Lisp. It's basically a slightly simplified and improved version of Maclisp successor projects (NIL, S-1 Lisp, Lisp Machine Li

Common Lisp is not the all-feature Lisp. It's basically a slightly simplified and improved version of Maclisp successor projects (NIL, S-1 Lisp, Lisp Machine Lisp / Zetalisp, Spice Lisp). Thus Common Lisp basically of similar complexity of prior Lisps. Common Lisp does inherit very very little from other Lisps like Interlisp, Standard Lisp, etc. Common Lisp was designed by implementors. If it is 'hard' to program in it, it probably is more BECAUSE it was developed by implementors: Gabriel: NIL (New Implementation of Lisp) -> Lucid Common Lisp Steele: NIL Moon: Lisp Machine Lisp -> Symbolics CL Weinreb: Lisp Machine Lisp -> Symbolics CL Fahlman: Spice Lisp -> CMUCL Even the later ANSI Common Lisp was designed with implementations of its new features. For example CLOS was designed mostly by people from Xerox PARC. CLOS was at the same time implemented by them in a portable implementation called PCL, where the designed was explored and feedback was assembled from a group of users. The very people who wrote the spec for CLOS and a book about it, they also implemented it.