3 ms·

Isn't it tiring to type so many parenthesis all the time? This is probably my first time encountering a Lispy language, other than Logo.

puredanger 2y ago
The number of parentheses is the same, they're just in a different place. Isn't it tiring to type so many semi-colons and commas all the time?
- alabhyajindal 2y ago
  I think it's tiring because before every expression I have to type a (. It's not tiring to type semi-colors and commas because they are very well positioned on the keyboard and I don't have to reach out in the same way as I need to for the parenthesis. Plus, there are not a lot of semi-colons and commas in JS and Python.
  - stefcoetzee 2y ago
    Replace in Python with 4-space / tab indentation.
phforms 2y ago
I know a lot of people think that you write more parentheses in Lispy languages, but actually in most cases you just type them in a different order, e.g. instead of `foo(x, y)` to call a function, you type `(foo x y)` and you even save a comma. Of course, there are constructs such as `let` and `cond` that are more parenthetically noisy (not so much in Clojure though), but on the flip side you don’t have to remember a lot of special syntax like in non-lisp languages. Most Lisp-people also use structural editing tools like paredit[1], which make it really easy to write and edit s-expressions. I found that after some time I didn’t really think that much about parentheses anymore. [1]: https://paredit.org https://paredit.org
- alabhyajindal 2y ago
  You're right about the order part and I didn't consider it initially. This is what Fizzbuzz looks like in Clojure: (defn fizzbuzz [n] (cond (zero? (rem n 15)) "FizzBuzz" (zero? (rem n 3)) "Fizz" (zero? (rem n 5)) "Buzz" :else (str n))) (defn print-fizzbuzz [n] (doseq [i (range 1 (inc n))] (println (fizzbuzz i)))) This looks overwhelming for someone who hasn't written any Lisp. My thought looking at this code was that I have to type a parenthesis before formulating any thought. Which is crazy because it's not some huge thing. It's like saying I have to press Enter before writing a line of Python.

puredanger 2y ago

The number of parentheses is the same, they're just in a different place. Isn't it tiring to type so many semi-colons and commas all the time?

alabhyajindal 2y ago
I think it's tiring because before every expression I have to type a (. It's not tiring to type semi-colors and commas because they are very well positioned on the keyboard and I don't have to reach out in the same way as I need to for the parenthesis. Plus, there are not a lot of semi-colons and commas in JS and Python.
- stefcoetzee 2y ago
  Replace in Python with 4-space / tab indentation.

phforms 2y ago

I know a lot of people think that you write more parentheses in Lispy languages, but actually in most cases you just type them in a different order, e.g. instead of `foo(x, y)` to call a function, you type `(foo x y)` and you even save a comma. Of course, there are constructs such as `let` and `cond` that are more parenthetically noisy (not so much in Clojure though), but on the flip side you don’t have to remember a lot of special syntax like in non-lisp languages. Most Lisp-people also use structural editing tools like paredit[1], which make it really easy to write and edit s-expressions. I found that after some time I didn’t really think that much about parentheses anymore. [1]: https://paredit.org https://paredit.org

alabhyajindal 2y ago
You're right about the order part and I didn't consider it initially. This is what Fizzbuzz looks like in Clojure: (defn fizzbuzz [n] (cond (zero? (rem n 15)) "FizzBuzz" (zero? (rem n 3)) "Fizz" (zero? (rem n 5)) "Buzz" :else (str n))) (defn print-fizzbuzz [n] (doseq [i (range 1 (inc n))] (println (fizzbuzz i)))) This looks overwhelming for someone who hasn't written any Lisp. My thought looking at this code was that I have to type a parenthesis before formulating any thought. Which is crazy because it's not some huge thing. It's like saying I have to press Enter before writing a line of Python.