Subject: Re: Which one, Lisp or Scheme? From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 1997/01/31 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.scheme Message-ID: <3063688829613158@naggum.no> * Michael Sperber | Some misconceptions about Scheme from the view of CL programmers need | clarification. that may be, but please do not add more of them. | >>>>> "Erik" == Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> writes: | | Erik> in Scheme, I must implement my own `member' with `string-equal' | Erik> as the predicate. | | In Scheme, equal? works on strings. No need to. `equal' is case sensitive. `string-equal' is not. `equal?' in Scheme is also case sensitive. if this is not sufficient, choose a different function, and get the point. | Erik> in like manner, I must reimplement everything else I | Erik> need with a higher level of abstraction than Scheme provides. | | At least that is easy in Scheme. sigh. it may be hard, it may be easy. in Common Lisp I don't have to. | Erik> (1) because Common Lisp recognizes that a single namespace for functions | Erik> and variables is bad for you. | | Again, that's an assertion without any proof. Multiple namespaces | greatly complicate dealing with names conceptually, especially when | the same name has multiple bindings with disjoint meanings. Possibly | a matter of taste, admittedly. where was the first "assertion without proof"? your own? | Erik> `defsetf' was mentioned. | | defsetf is trivial to define with Scheme high-level macros. again, you need to roll your own. all those "trivial" things add up. | Erik> however, functions aren't normally values of variables. this is | Erik> seldom as useful as Schemers think it is. | | Erik, you should have asked a question. It is immensely useful all the | time. because in Scheme, you have no other choice. if you need it in Common Lisp, you've implemented a different evaluation model before all those trivial issues in Scheme have been implemented. | I'd be happy to send to oodles of source code where having to use funcall | would greatly screw up the code. "greatly screw up the code"? misconceptions, eh? you're marketing. | Erik> Scheme is a relatively low-level Lisp. you _can_ build tall | Erik> abstractions, but you run into many serious problems in scaling, | | Such as? lack of a standard package system, for starters. | Erik> not to mention the fact that Scheme is a language of bare | Erik> necessities, like living in a cave, while Common Lisp is a | Erik> language of complex societies where all the infrastructure you | Erik> want to take for granted is indeed already implemented. | | As far as infrastructure for building abstractions is concerned, I | want (and need) call/cc and macros. So? as if Common Lisp didn't have macros. sheesh! call-with-current-continuation is unique to Scheme. somehow, people can actually get work done in other languages. listening to Schemers, I wonder how this is at all possible without call-with-current-continuation. could it be that Scheme has removed all the _other_ mechanisms and replaced them with a single very complex idea that is then used to reimplement them all? in Scheme, you have to implement a lot of minor stuff. this creates one Scheme environment per user or group of users. such is indeed the case. in Common Lisp, it's there. #\Erik -- 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine -- a basic ingredient in quality software.