I think this demonstrates just how much the growth of real software engineering has been stunted by half-solutions (like Java, and other mainstream languages).

I think this demonstrates just how much the growth of real software engineering has been stunted by half-solutions (like Java, and other mainstream languages). It's exciting! In the case of Lisp, it's not just about enforcing styles, but (as a team) coming up with the appropriate DSL for the task at hand. The classic 'bottom-up' paradigm (http://www.paulgraham.com/progbot.html http://www.paulgraham.com/progbot.html), but done collaboratively. The analog has been done to death in object oriented languages, with concepts such as design patterns and frameworks. I'd love to see similar developments in a meta-language like Lisp, and with all the (potential) power that entails...