Subject: Re: Common Lisp, the one true religion! From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net> Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 00:30:18 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3209070617000512@naggum.net> [ Please break your lines. ] * Carl Gay <carlgay@mediaone.net> > This doesn't really have anything to do with parentheses, though > s-expressions probably make it easier to deal with code as data than, > say, messing around with abstract syntax trees. S-expressions are abstract syntax trees, for all practical purposes. > Personally, I think the ability to treat code as data is overrated. At > least for the types of programming I tend to do. It's certainly not > essential in order to see the huge benefits Lisp can give you. I think the middle sentence is true. > Some people have started referring to them as "syntax extensions", which > may help prevent confusion by association with C-like "macros". > Stressing the ability to do control-flow abstraction with them might also > help. That would be a good thing for Scheme. Common Lisp is not Scheme. > Oddly, they don't seem to have the least aversion to scattering casts > throughout their code... Huh? And what is non-static about casts? ///