How explain why Python is easier/nicer than Lisp which has a simpler grammar/syntax?

[Akkana Peck]

Christian Seberino writes:
> Python is my favorite language and the easiest to use in my opinion.
> 
> Lisp has a far simpler grammar and syntax.   A beginner I think could
> learn Lisp much faster than Python.
> 
> Therefore, it seems like Lisp *should* be easier to work with and more readable.  I don't feel like it is easier to use but I can't see *why* that is.

First, everybody's brain is different so be cautious of sweeping
statements. What's true for one person isn't necessarily true for another.

That said, for me, Lisp's simpler syntax arises from the fact that
there's basically one data structure: a list. To do anything in
Lisp, you have to think in lists, map everything to lists (including
the program's own structure), build up list-based data structures in
your head. It's also functional and recursive, which means that as
you're programming, you have to maintain a stack (which is also a
list) in your head of all the lists that aren't yet closed. Of
course, you can use tricks like let and setq to hold intermediate
variables and mitigate that a little, but that isn't really Lispish.

Trying to maintain that recursive list of unclosed lists in your
brain is fun. It stretches the brain in interesting ways. I was
way into Lisp at one point, including writing several Lisp
interpreters (that simple structure makes Lisp very easy to
implement). But I never found Lisp code very maintainable, because
any time you read a program, you have to build up that list in your
head every time just to follow the logic structure and figure out
what the return value will be. I suspect most people find that more
difficult than reading an inherently procedural language like
Python. I know I do.

        ...Akkana