I am rather annoyed at the "apples vs. oranges" arguments I frequently see on Reddit and the like. I picked up python last summer after going through a very messy breakup (it seemed like a good thing to do with all the alone time). Anyway, ever since I started writing python, I've been bugged by a "apples vs. oranges" coworker to learn Lisp, because they are very similar. So at the beginning of this thread, I was reminded that I should go check it out.
That's all it did for me. It reminded me to do something I was planning on doing myself anyway. Lisp vs. Python? How 'bout Haskell vs. Java, PBASIC vs. C++, and while we're at it, SmallTalk vs. Assembler! >> This month there was/is a 1000+ long thread called: >> "merits of Lisp vs Python" >> In comp.lang.lisp. <snip> >> >> I use both. And Java, and C++ too. Can one really survive knowing just >> one language these days, anyway? >> >> I agree with this entirely. I started learning PBASIC to work with a microcontroller. I learned Java for portability. I learned PHP for ease of web application development (I've been largely unimpressed with the python frameworks...but it's also lack of experience). I use python for utilities I need, and Lisp is great for some of the functional needs I have (see Mosquito-Lisp and the MOSREF project), and I can see use in it. But how many web applications have you seen written in Assembler? How many OS kernels written in Lisp? I bought my girlfriend an art desk for Christmas. I didn't use a freakin' hammer to drive the screws. Wrong tool for the job. Each language has its ups and downs. Call me the Martin Luther King of programming languages, but I have a dream. We can no sooner say one language is better than another than say white people are superior to black people. We're equal in our own respects. Paul -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
