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Some have also said that the human language you speak has an effect on how you think, but that's pretty controversial among linguists if not altogether discredi

Some have also said that the human language you speak has an effect on how you think, but that's pretty controversial among linguists if not altogether discredited. I have no doubt the difference among human languages and programming languages could be completely different, but is there any concrete example you could give of an idea that is easier to express in one programming language than in another?

dang 12y ago
IMO the analogy to human languages is a distraction and best avoided, since we're not able to say meaningful things about both. > is there any concrete example you could give of an idea that is easier to express in one programming language than in another Sure. Since this thread is about Lisps: writing code that works with other code is an order of magnitude easier in Lisp. Therefore people tend to do it a lot more.
marcosdumay 12y ago
Try to write Python style metaprogramming is something like Java some day. It's perfectly possible, but nobody would think about that style. Now try to write it in C++, just for the lulz. Or, if you are not satisfied, try to create a non-synchronous TCP server in C, Java, or Python. Then write one in Haskell. Try creating RAII containers in Java... Ops, that can not be done!
cgag 12y ago
I don't know about "possible to express", but having learned Haskell, I see monoids everywhere. In the SICP lectures, when Sussman teaches the class the word "predicate", he mentions that knowing the names of these things is important because "As any sorcerer will tell you, if you know the name of a spirit, you have power over it".[1] If you only know C, you're unlikely to think in terms of map/filter/reduce. If you don't know Haskell, you're unlikely to think in terms of functors and monads. You may be vaguely aware of repeated patterns, but knowing you're looking at a monad gives you a lot more power to reason about it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbMuv-jix8#t=12m50s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbMuv-jix8#t=12m50s

dang 12y ago

IMO the analogy to human languages is a distraction and best avoided, since we're not able to say meaningful things about both. > is there any concrete example you could give of an idea that is easier to express in one programming language than in another Sure. Since this thread is about Lisps: writing code that works with other code is an order of magnitude easier in Lisp. Therefore people tend to do it a lot more.

marcosdumay 12y ago

Try to write Python style metaprogramming is something like Java some day. It's perfectly possible, but nobody would think about that style. Now try to write it in C++, just for the lulz. Or, if you are not satisfied, try to create a non-synchronous TCP server in C, Java, or Python. Then write one in Haskell. Try creating RAII containers in Java... Ops, that can not be done!

cgag 12y ago

I don't know about "possible to express", but having learned Haskell, I see monoids everywhere. In the SICP lectures, when Sussman teaches the class the word "predicate", he mentions that knowing the names of these things is important because "As any sorcerer will tell you, if you know the name of a spirit, you have power over it".[1] If you only know C, you're unlikely to think in terms of map/filter/reduce. If you don't know Haskell, you're unlikely to think in terms of functors and monads. You may be vaguely aware of repeated patterns, but knowing you're looking at a monad gives you a lot more power to reason about it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbMuv-jix8#t=12m50s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbMuv-jix8#t=12m50s