[EMAIL PROTECTED] escreveu: > > Yes, but these are community symbols or tribe marks. They don't have > > much meaning per se, just like the language name or a corporate > > identity. > > Unfortunately, I don't believe that this is entirely correct....I do > lurk c.l.p and see quite often people arguing (if briefly) about what > the one (and preferably only one) obvious way of doing things is. This > is only subtly ridiculous. The other ("It fits your brain") is much > less subtle, and much more problematic: > > Now, I'm willing to buy that "it fits your brain" is taken less > seriously, but ... > > > However they express an attitude ( being easy and free from > > language design redundancy ) that can be measured at least subjectively > > by the user. If Ruby "fits the brain" better, then people will simply > > drop Python in future or right now. There is nothing deep about it. > > ...if not deep, at least insidious, as demonstrated in part by the > current thread wherein, until forced to give it up, the present > pythonistas spent a significant number of chars trying to arguing, in > effect, that Lisp does NOT fit (one's) brain (e.g, is easier to use, > easier to learn, etc.) IN GENERAL. It seems to me (here and on c.l.p) > that many pythonista have somehow drunk this Koolaide and that as a > result have a sort of smug superiority about it. Of course, Lispers > have a smug superiority as well, but at least we have actual language > features (macros, compositionality, compilers) to wave around, not > ridiculous pop psychological noise.
Right. So, let's suppose I now want to learn LISP (I did try, on several occasions). What I would like to do would be to replace Python and code GUI applications. Yes, those boring business-like applications that have to access databases and consume those new-fangled web-services and whatnot. Heck, maybe even code games using DirectX. So, how would I do that? For Python, that was simple. I learned the basics, then moved to the libraries, learning as I went. Python has some excelent online resources. No, I don't want to see yet another Fibonacci example. No, console output is not fun. And yes, I know about this list processing stuff. All I can find are introductions to LISP written for computer science courses. I can't seem to put together all those mnemonics into a working program. LISP is full of primitives with 3-4 characters, chosen for historical reasons. The bottom line is that I didn't have a pleasant learning experience. Perhaps the lispers here could offer some insights? Stephen -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list