Why is Python popular, while Lisp and Scheme aren't?

[Sean 'Shaleh' Perry]

On Saturday 09 November 2002 17:46, Pascal Costanza wrote:
>
> The core is extremely simple:
>
> This is a piece of program in Lisp: (gethash "key" table)
> This is some data in Lisp, a list: '(gethash "key" table)
>
> In the first example, we have a call of the function gethash with
> arguments "key" and table. In the second example, we have a list with
> the three elements gethash, "key" and table.
>
> (BTW, this is exactly the reason why Lisp has this seemingly strange
> syntax - you can easily switch between program representation and data
> representation. On the conceptual level, Lisp makes no difference
> between data and programs.)
>

I have picked up lisp a few times and put it back down each time.  As I become 
a better programmer I find lisp makes more sense.  The prefix thing no longer 
bothers me because I just parse it as a function call and not algebra like I 
learned in school.

What always bothers me though is the quote syntax.  '(this text) is different 
from (this text).  I find that when reading code it is very, very easy to 
miss that silly quote.  Sure you just learn to look for it but it is still 
what irks me most.