[Edu-sig] Python for CS101

[Chuck Allison]

JZ> OK, OK, I'm somewhat busted. My background in AI has caused me to become
JZ> better in LISP than your average bear, but I would never claim to be a 
JZ> "real LISP programmer." The absolute truth of the matter is that I once 
JZ> _was_ a real Prolog programmer. If you really want to expand your 
JZ> horizons, you can't beat Prolog. It's as close as we've gotten to God's 
JZ> own language.

Ah, that explains why it is such a mystery! :-) Prolog: simple but
impenetrable! It is a perfect example of how being simple isn't always
readable. Or as a certain web site says:

Prolog: You tell your program that you want to be shot in the foot. The
        program figures out how to do it, but the syntax doesn't permit 
        it to explain it to you.

>> My impetus in approaching LISP would be to become a better Python programmer
>> (presuming that it is awfully late in the game to try to become anything of
>> a LISP programmer), and that does have something to do, in my mind, with
>> more exposure to functional programming.  But concluded that Scheme sounded
>> a bit austere on this account, and taking Seibel at his word, I would be
>> hoping to get, through LISP, to functional thinking within a multi-paradigm
>> context - which should be easier to translate into Pythonic thinking .
>>

JZ> I happen to think that LISP and Python are very similar languages. 
JZ> Python's syntax is easier to read, and LISP's is better/easier for 
JZ> meta-programming. The underlying model is very much the same.

When I first saw Python a few years ago (I met Guido at Software
Development Conference about 5 years ago or so) I thought it was just
Lisp in sheep's clothing. My background in Lisp (and Scheme!) helped
me grasp Python like lightning (I'm about as old as John, so "in our
day" Lisp was something one should know :-). I don't envy anyone who
goes the other direction. But it will certainly put hair on your
chest. I mourn the loss of functional programming features in Python.

-- 
Best regards,
 Chuck