What If Python Replaced Elisp?

[Andrew M. Kuchling]

kragen at dnaco.net (Kragen Sitaker) writes:
> Mostly ignorance; the following points come to mind, though:
> - Python's numeric system is simpler.  In Lisp, you can add two fixnums
>   and get a bignum, or not, depending on what the fixnums are.

Python may move toward Lisp's behaviour in future versions.  It's been
argued that it's confusing, particularly to new users, to have both
integers and long integers, two similar-looking types that can't
always be used in the same contexts.  For example, in Python 1.5,
17L*[1,2] raises a 'TypeError: can't multiply sequence with non-int'
exception.  (Fixed in the current CVS tree.)  Post-1.6, or maybe only
in Py3K, instead of getting an OverflowError, you might silently get a
long integer result instead.  

-- 
A.M. Kuchling			http://starship.python.net/crew/amk/
I promised that this would be a frank record, so far as I can write one, and
God forbid that I should pretend that there is not a generous measure of spite
in my nature.
    -- Robertson Davies, _Fifth Business_