3 ms·

The link title is my #1 complaint with Lisp. I think it has many strengths and it's homogeneity is a strength, but also it's biggest weakness. Not a showstopper

The link title is my #1 complaint with Lisp. I think it has many strengths and it's homogeneity is a strength, but also it's biggest weakness. Not a showstopper, of course, but it is a turn-off for me esp when I consider cases like having to parachute in and understand a new codebase or maintain something I wrote years ago. Python, in comparison, gives more visual cues as to what's what. It has less power, but more readability.

Tiomaidh 15y ago
Indentation and convention both help (as does experience). Python: def spam(self, eggs): for egg in eggs: if egg.color == "white": egg.crack Which goes to: xxx xxxx(xxxx, xxxx): xxx xxx xx xxxx: xx xxx.xxxxx == "xxxxx": xxx.xxxxx CL: (defun spam (eggs) (dolist (egg eggs) (when (equal (color-of egg) 'white) (crack egg)))) (Ignore the fact that this example was clearly written with object-oriented Python in mind :P .) Which goes to: (xxxxx xxxx (xxxx) (xxxxxx (xxx xxxx) (xxxx (xxxxx (xxxxx-xx xxx) 'xxxxx) (xxxxx xxx)))) I don't think there's a huge difference.
- jrockway 15y ago
  Actually, you've misindented the CL and that's causing confusion. You should indent when statements like: (when (equal foo bar) (do-something) So that it doesn't look like: (when (equal (some-long thing) (that is being compared)) (do-something)
- jshen 15y ago
  The only significant different I see is that == isn't xx. If you turn == into xx then it's no different. If it were clojure it would look better than the python version since you'd use [] instead of () in a couple of places.
- CJefferson 15y ago
  I think you are over-cutting the python. First of all, with the python the first things on the lines are: def for if egg My eyes are naturally drawn along that list. While I could do the same thing for CL, I find the opening brackets slow me down. The colons at the end of each of those lines tell me that each of the def, for, and if are one-statement lines. With the CL, I have to backet-count along the line to figure out if everything is on one line. I can see instantly that ' if egg.color == white: ' is a complete statement, as it is a common pattern. With (when (equal (color-of egg) 'white), I need to bracket count to see where I have got to by the end of the line.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

Tiomaidh 15y ago

Indentation and convention both help (as does experience). Python: def spam(self, eggs): for egg in eggs: if egg.color == "white": egg.crack Which goes to: xxx xxxx(xxxx, xxxx): xxx xxx xx xxxx: xx xxx.xxxxx == "xxxxx": xxx.xxxxx CL: (defun spam (eggs) (dolist (egg eggs) (when (equal (color-of egg) 'white) (crack egg)))) (Ignore the fact that this example was clearly written with object-oriented Python in mind :P .) Which goes to: (xxxxx xxxx (xxxx) (xxxxxx (xxx xxxx) (xxxx (xxxxx (xxxxx-xx xxx) 'xxxxx) (xxxxx xxx)))) I don't think there's a huge difference.

jrockway 15y ago
Actually, you've misindented the CL and that's causing confusion. You should indent when statements like: (when (equal foo bar) (do-something) So that it doesn't look like: (when (equal (some-long thing) (that is being compared)) (do-something)
jshen 15y ago
The only significant different I see is that == isn't xx. If you turn == into xx then it's no different. If it were clojure it would look better than the python version since you'd use [] instead of () in a couple of places.
CJefferson 15y ago
I think you are over-cutting the python. First of all, with the python the first things on the lines are: def for if egg My eyes are naturally drawn along that list. While I could do the same thing for CL, I find the opening brackets slow me down. The colons at the end of each of those lines tell me that each of the def, for, and if are one-statement lines. With the CL, I have to backet-count along the line to figure out if everything is on one line. I can see instantly that ' if egg.color == white: ' is a complete statement, as it is a common pattern. With (when (equal (color-of egg) 'white), I need to bracket count to see where I have got to by the end of the line.
deleted 15y ago
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