Subject: Re: The Next Generation of Lisp Programmers From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 26 Aug 2002 14:01:30 +0000 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3239359290565081@naggum.no> * Ziv Caspi | It is not obvious that use of \i{foo} (or {i foo}) is always better than use | of <i>foo</i>. In TeX and LaTeX, for example, once the scope gets "too | big", a switch is made to the \start{}...\stop{} way of doing things. While | redundant, it helps in catching the types of mistakes people (as opposed to | computers and geeks) tend to make. This is a good point, but my counter-argument is that your editor should make these things easier for you if the element contents becomes too large. | You make some misleading remarks with your (+ 2 2) vs. 2 + 2 example. (+ 2 | 2) can certainly appear in a scope that modifies it to mean any number of | things other than 4. Sure, but you will prove my point when you demonstrate the magnitude of the work involved in making alternative interpretations. | The difference between LISP and Algol-like languages (say, C) here is that | in C it is usually quite easy to determine where the enclosing context that | might affect the expression starts and stops (assuming this is not a | string/remark/etc, you can limit your reading to the area between the | previous and next semicolons, for example). This cannot be said about LISP. Sorry, but this is nonsense. -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.