5 ms·

Why is Scheme your favorite language?

Gustomaximus 4y ago
Strange this is getting downvoted here of all places. I like to think HN is a place that would enjoy this conversation regardless of their own view. Let keep the good intent and intellectual curiosity please.
- phil294 4y ago
  I guess it's mostly these guidelines: "Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents. [...] Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead. [...] Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."
pmoriarty 4y ago
It's very simple, elegant, and powerful -- like no other language I know (and I've learned well over a dozen, of a variety of paradigms). It's easy to write, easy to read, and easily does everything I need. I prize clarity over almost anything else when programming, and Scheme lets me do that way more effectively than anything else. There's very little syntax or boilerplate to get in the way. It's also very consistent, and I like that. The worst languages feel cobbled together or congealed rather than designed. Scheme is the opposite of that.
- Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
  Heh, your reasons for loving Scheme are basically word-for-word why I love Python.
  - cultofmetatron 4y ago
    python is more or less a scheme with syntax training wheels that make it a bit more beginner friendly. Not being facetious either. it has the same semantics and a lot of python's early adopters were former lispers. That said, scheme the language is much more powerful than python. in exchange for the easy syntax, python lost macros and took on a crippled lambda syntax.
    - pmoriarty 4y ago
      Scheme is a lot smaller, simpler, and more elegant than Python. Though I like that Python takes some inspiration from Lisp, it has a lot of unnecessary complexity and inconsistency which leads to a lot of gotchas. Python's additional syntax make it less readable and harder to write for me than Scheme. It's only more "beginner friendly" if you're used to Algol-like languages, otherwise Scheme is simpler to understand. Just my 2c
photochemsyn 4y ago
Why do people have favorite languages? Programming languages are more like tools than say, video games or novels. If someone said they love screwdrivers/impact drivers and hate hammers/nail guns, well... okay. You can build everthing with screws instead of nails, but this can create problems and probably isn't the optimal solution.
- pmoriarty 4y ago
  I'm not wedded to my favorite language. Right tool for the job and all that.. Still, when given the choice I prefer to work in a language that's easy and clear, rather than one that's painful and convoluted. Sure, I might be able to do the same in another language, but I'm reminded of Alan Perlis' advice to "Beware of the Turing tar-pit in which everything is possible but nothing of interest is easy."
- WesolyKubeczek 4y ago
  Same reason I guess some tools are better to work with than others. I definitely like my iFixit screwdrivers set more than a generic set I've bought years before: there are more different bits actually used in things I need to disassemble and assemble, the things are sturdier, they feel nicer to hold in my hand, there is this nice magnetic pad so my screws are not lost. Now if I have no choice but this shitty screwdriver, I'll use it, sure, as long as it doesn't break (this has happened), but when I have a choice, I go for better tools. What's so incomprehensible about this? Of course if you do a half-assed job all the time, you may afford to not care about your tools. I want to excel at mine, so I definitely have preferences.
- TillE 4y ago
  Right, I certainly have languages I'm more comfortable with, largely because of experience. I have a few languages I dislike. But I couldn't tell you my favorite language, it doesn't really make sense to me.
- xisukar 4y ago
  From Dijkstra: >The tools we use have a profound and devious influence on our thinking habits, and therefore on our thinking abilities. Obviously you should use the right tool for the job, however in the realm of programming languages someone might find a language's model of code structure better than other languages and more in tune with his/her way of thinking.
forinti 4y ago
I really enjoyed Lisp and Scheme while in college, but I never got to use them professionally. I think we would be better off having core business rules in one of these languages instead of having to rewrite them every decade or so in the current fashionable language.

Strange this is getting downvoted here of all places. I like to think HN is a place that would enjoy this conversation regardless of their own view. Let keep the good intent and intellectual curiosity please.

phil294 4y ago
I guess it's mostly these guidelines: "Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents. [...] Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead. [...] Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."

pmoriarty 4y ago

It's very simple, elegant, and powerful -- like no other language I know (and I've learned well over a dozen, of a variety of paradigms). It's easy to write, easy to read, and easily does everything I need. I prize clarity over almost anything else when programming, and Scheme lets me do that way more effectively than anything else. There's very little syntax or boilerplate to get in the way. It's also very consistent, and I like that. The worst languages feel cobbled together or congealed rather than designed. Scheme is the opposite of that.

Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
Heh, your reasons for loving Scheme are basically word-for-word why I love Python.
- cultofmetatron 4y ago
  python is more or less a scheme with syntax training wheels that make it a bit more beginner friendly. Not being facetious either. it has the same semantics and a lot of python's early adopters were former lispers. That said, scheme the language is much more powerful than python. in exchange for the easy syntax, python lost macros and took on a crippled lambda syntax.
  - pmoriarty 4y ago
    Scheme is a lot smaller, simpler, and more elegant than Python. Though I like that Python takes some inspiration from Lisp, it has a lot of unnecessary complexity and inconsistency which leads to a lot of gotchas. Python's additional syntax make it less readable and harder to write for me than Scheme. It's only more "beginner friendly" if you're used to Algol-like languages, otherwise Scheme is simpler to understand. Just my 2c

photochemsyn 4y ago

Why do people have favorite languages? Programming languages are more like tools than say, video games or novels. If someone said they love screwdrivers/impact drivers and hate hammers/nail guns, well... okay. You can build everthing with screws instead of nails, but this can create problems and probably isn't the optimal solution.

pmoriarty 4y ago
I'm not wedded to my favorite language. Right tool for the job and all that.. Still, when given the choice I prefer to work in a language that's easy and clear, rather than one that's painful and convoluted. Sure, I might be able to do the same in another language, but I'm reminded of Alan Perlis' advice to "Beware of the Turing tar-pit in which everything is possible but nothing of interest is easy."
WesolyKubeczek 4y ago
Same reason I guess some tools are better to work with than others. I definitely like my iFixit screwdrivers set more than a generic set I've bought years before: there are more different bits actually used in things I need to disassemble and assemble, the things are sturdier, they feel nicer to hold in my hand, there is this nice magnetic pad so my screws are not lost. Now if I have no choice but this shitty screwdriver, I'll use it, sure, as long as it doesn't break (this has happened), but when I have a choice, I go for better tools. What's so incomprehensible about this? Of course if you do a half-assed job all the time, you may afford to not care about your tools. I want to excel at mine, so I definitely have preferences.
TillE 4y ago
Right, I certainly have languages I'm more comfortable with, largely because of experience. I have a few languages I dislike. But I couldn't tell you my favorite language, it doesn't really make sense to me.
xisukar 4y ago
From Dijkstra: >The tools we use have a profound and devious influence on our thinking habits, and therefore on our thinking abilities. Obviously you should use the right tool for the job, however in the realm of programming languages someone might find a language's model of code structure better than other languages and more in tune with his/her way of thinking.

forinti 4y ago

I really enjoyed Lisp and Scheme while in college, but I never got to use them professionally. I think we would be better off having core business rules in one of these languages instead of having to rewrite them every decade or so in the current fashionable language.