I was saying that the OP ("hammer carpenter") is taking the metaphor too far, which is why the phrase "hammer carpenter" sounds silly, and we seem to agree on t

I was saying that the OP ("hammer carpenter") is taking the metaphor too far, which is why the phrase "hammer carpenter" sounds silly, and we seem to agree on this. I have no problem with the conclusion that the tool matters less than what you're building. I'd go farther and say that there is a certain tendency for C projects to "look the same" and that lispy projects "look the same" in a different way (e.g., surprisingly extensible, incorporating a language).