Python syntax in Lisp and Scheme

[Pascal Costanza]

Jacek Generowicz wrote:

> Ultimately, all these Python v Lisp arguments boil down to the
> differing philosophies:
> 
> Python:
> 
> - Keep it simple
> 
> - Guido knows what's best for me
> 
> 
> Lisp:
> 
> - Provide as much power to the programmer as possible, out of the box
> 
> - I know what's best for me, and I want a language that allows me to
>   invest effort in making difficult things easy for me

I second that. To me, this is indeed the important difference, and the 
most important reason why I love Lisp.

Most languages are of the first kind: some language designer thinks he 
knows better what's best for the users of his language than those users 
themselves. Such people use language design as a mask of authoritarian 
power. See for example http://www.iol.ie/~pcassidy/ARC/guru.html


Pascal