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The video explains how JavaScript started out as a Scheme-dialect (Lisp) but for marketing reasons they chose a more Java-like syntax and adopted Java into the

The video explains how JavaScript started out as a Scheme-dialect (Lisp) but for marketing reasons they chose a more Java-like syntax and adopted Java into the name.

galfarragem 7y ago
An historical mistake that humanity is paying (and will pay) for a long time. Scheme 'cloths' was a viable option. Lisp remains the most popular scripting language among Autocad users despite Autodesk pushing other languages (.NET and JS). So popular that Autocad clones use it also as a scripting language[1]. Edited [1] https://www.zwsoft.com/zwcad/features#Dynamic-Block https://www.zwsoft.com/zwcad/features#Dynamic-Block
- daliusd 7y ago
  I was working for bigest Autocad competitor for more than 10 years and never had to touch anything similar to lisp :)
  - lisptw102019 7y ago
    If my guess is right, that's because your company's product had their own proprietary language (MDL). But, that was OK too, because if my guess is right, your company's product also had FAR FAR FAR better COM bindings than Autocad did for 99% of what you'd want to automate.
- ben509 7y ago
  Was it a mistake, though? Languages have to be accessible to their audience, and Javascript caught on because of its relatively gentle learning curve. If SchemeScript hadn't caught on, it might have been that VBScript took over the web.
  - hyperpallium 7y ago
    Insufficiently C-like languages get ignored, according to: http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-mostly-wrong.html?m=1 http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-m...
    - doboyy 7y ago
      Language designers and enthusiats will forever be disappointed at how many social and human factors are at play, which coincidentally, is a large part of the motivation for programming languages
catalogia 7y ago
Javascript falls short of scheme in ways more substantial than java-like vs s-expression syntax. It also has one of the worst numerical towers ever put into a language (that being: "lmao everything is a float".) Also, "function-scope" is an abomination compared to proper lexical scoping. Edit: I forgot to also mention: weak typing was an awful idea.

The video explains how JavaScript started out as a Scheme-dialect (Lisp) but for marketing reasons they chose a more Java-like syntax and adopted Java into the name.

galfarragem 7y ago

An historical mistake that humanity is paying (and will pay) for a long time. Scheme 'cloths' was a viable option. Lisp remains the most popular scripting language among Autocad users despite Autodesk pushing other languages (.NET and JS). So popular that Autocad clones use it also as a scripting language[1]. Edited [1] https://www.zwsoft.com/zwcad/features#Dynamic-Block https://www.zwsoft.com/zwcad/features#Dynamic-Block

daliusd 7y ago
I was working for bigest Autocad competitor for more than 10 years and never had to touch anything similar to lisp :)
- lisptw102019 7y ago
  If my guess is right, that's because your company's product had their own proprietary language (MDL). But, that was OK too, because if my guess is right, your company's product also had FAR FAR FAR better COM bindings than Autocad did for 99% of what you'd want to automate.
ben509 7y ago
Was it a mistake, though? Languages have to be accessible to their audience, and Javascript caught on because of its relatively gentle learning curve. If SchemeScript hadn't caught on, it might have been that VBScript took over the web.
- hyperpallium 7y ago
  Insufficiently C-like languages get ignored, according to: http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-mostly-wrong.html?m=1 http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-m...
  - doboyy 7y ago
    Language designers and enthusiats will forever be disappointed at how many social and human factors are at play, which coincidentally, is a large part of the motivation for programming languages

catalogia 7y ago

Javascript falls short of scheme in ways more substantial than java-like vs s-expression syntax. It also has one of the worst numerical towers ever put into a language (that being: "lmao everything is a float".) Also, "function-scope" is an abomination compared to proper lexical scoping. Edit: I forgot to also mention: weak typing was an awful idea.