I think part of what makes Lisp "elegant" and "clean" is the simplicity of its grammar. It has the shortest and simplest grammar of all the major programming languages.
Here is C++'s grammar: http://www.csci.csusb.edu/dick/c++std/cd2/gram.html Here is Lisp's grammar: http://www.devincook.com/goldparser/doc/meta-language/grammar-LISP.htm Granted C++ is a beast but even C has a huge grammar compared to Lisp. Of course, that simplicity comes at a price - using the same token (parenthesis) for everything, RPN, etc. although not everyone sees that as a downside. -Niki Yoshiuchi On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 10:32 AM, Aled Gest <himse...@gmail.com> wrote: > 2009/11/12 markus schnalke <mei...@marmaro.de>: > > Remember: ``Unix is simple. It just takes a genius to understand its > > simplicity.'' (dmr) > > Not quite sure what point you're trying to make here. Unix has a nice > philosophy, there are plenty of poor implementations of that > philosophy though. If you're suggesting that Lisp has a nice > philosophy, I'm suggesting that in my mind it's a poor implementation > of that philosophy. > > > Isn't that great? It's like ``everything's a file''. > > Not really. I don't like having forced polish notation for everything, > if I did I'd just write everything in ASM. > > > You mean: It has a not so strange/different syntax. > > No I mean TCL has a similar concept with lists but implements it with > (in my mind) a nicer syntax. Trying to put words into my mouth isn't > going to change reality. > > > My motivation to post in this thread was to point you to a language > > that will enhance your view in this discussion. > > Well you've failed in that attempt. I just don't see anything special > about Lisp. You can fallaciously assume that that has something to do > with a lack of understanding on my part, and you might even be right, > but until you point out what makes Lisp have a cleaner and more > logical syntax than C, I just don't see it. > > Don't get me wrong, there are improvements that could be made to the C > syntax, I just don't see that any of them would come from the Lisp > syntax. > >
