Python syntax in Lisp and Scheme

[prunesquallor at comcast.net]

Pascal Costanza <costanza at web.de> writes:

> Corey Coughlin wrote:
>> I was never very fond of lisp.  I guess I mean scheme technically, I
>> took the Ableson and Sussman course back in college, so that's what I
>> learned of scheme, lisp in general I've mostly used embedded in other
>> things.  In general, it always seemed to me that a lot of the design
>> choices in lisp are driven more by elegance and simplicity than
>> usability.
>
> You should give Common Lisp a try. Many Lispers think that that's
> exactly one of the advantages of Common Lisp over Scheme: it focuses
> more on usability than on elegance.

S&ICP (Abelson and Sussman) use Scheme to illustrate basic concepts by
stripping away things to get at the core of what's going on.  But I
think too many people assume that the stripped-down version is
supposed to be `better' in some sense.  (Other than the pedagogic
sense, that is.)

It is like learning about internal combustion engines by disassembling
a lawnmower.  It is a very simple illustration of everything important
about 4-stroke engines.  However, no one would suggest you actually
build a car that way!