Python syntax in Lisp and Scheme

[Kaz Kylheku]

Alexander Schmolck <a.schmolck at gmx.net> wrote in message news:<yfszng1fewt.fsf at black132.ex.ac.uk>...
> Did it occur to you that people maybe use python not so much because they are
> retards but because it's vastly more effective than CL at the tasks they
> currently need to perform?

People use Python most likely for these reasons:

- they read some articles about it in popular press
- it is relatively new
- it came with their Linux distribution

The second point is important. When something is new, there is a
ready-made explanation for not being popular. When the pointy haired
boss asks why isn't the whole world using Python for everything, you
just have to say ``It's too new, so only the smart, hip people who
have their ears to the ground are using it, but just wait a few
years.''

It's easy to add a positive adornment to the explanation which gives
rise to an expectation of success, and which in turn creates a
psychological pressure to adopt or else be left behind!

Soon, the language starts being mentioned on job advertisements as a
desireable skill, and the pressure starts to snowball. At this point,
hordes of immature programmers are paniced into learning it, just so
they can put it on their resumes and be able to say something about it
in interviews.

But these programmers resent being pressured into learning! They
resent the new programming language, even if they contribute to its
body of popularity.

This is why in ten, fifteen, maybe twenty years, when the popularity
bubble of that language has long burst, there will be hordes of
detractors who will have ready-made seemingly technical explanations
why that language is no longer popular.