5 ms·

I can assure you the author of Parinfer is aware of this distinction ;) That sentence is an oversimplification to give context to the rest of the content in th

I can assure you the author of Parinfer is aware of this distinction ;) That sentence is an oversimplification to give context to the rest of the content in that section. Should probably have an asterisk to clarify.

lispm 11y ago
It's one of the sentences which creates endless confusions and a false image of Lisp. 'Everything is a list'. Oh, Lisp has only one data structure? Lisp is difficult to read, because it has no other syntax? Lisp is a primitive language and not usable for real programmers... etc. etc. It also creates the impression that even proponents of Lisp-like languages don't actually understand the basics...
- oconnore 11y ago
  Who is endlessly confused? Who suspects that the author of a neat lisp editor plugin has never written a non-trivial line of Common Lisp, Clojure, or Scheme? What are the chances that people in either category are also curious and excited to experiment with novel editing techniques?
  - lispm 11y ago
    > Who is endlessly confused? Everyone who reads or hears this sentence. I've heard 'everything is a list' a zillion times already. It's just wrong. In every way.
    - jsprogrammer 11y ago
      A LISP program is a list of characters.
      - pavelludiq 11y ago
        If we're going to be super pedantic, the Common Lisp spec actually defines code as: "code n. 1. Trad. any representation of actions to be performed, whether conceptual or as an actual object, such as forms, lambda expressions, objects of type function, text in a source file, or instruction sequences in a compiled file. This is a generic term; the specific nature of the representation depends on its context. " http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/26_glo_c.htm#code http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/26_glo...
      - lispm 11y ago
        Actually not. A Lisp program is data. The Lisp system does not care if it comes from a text file or if it is constructed as data by a program: (list '+ '1 '2) constructs a program which can be evaluated.
        jsprogrammer 11y ago
        I have thought about this response a bit, but, all I see here are more lists of characters.
        lispm 11y ago
        Use Lisp and you will see.

lispm 11y ago

It's one of the sentences which creates endless confusions and a false image of Lisp. 'Everything is a list'. Oh, Lisp has only one data structure? Lisp is difficult to read, because it has no other syntax? Lisp is a primitive language and not usable for real programmers... etc. etc. It also creates the impression that even proponents of Lisp-like languages don't actually understand the basics...

oconnore 11y ago
Who is endlessly confused? Who suspects that the author of a neat lisp editor plugin has never written a non-trivial line of Common Lisp, Clojure, or Scheme? What are the chances that people in either category are also curious and excited to experiment with novel editing techniques?
- lispm 11y ago
  > Who is endlessly confused? Everyone who reads or hears this sentence. I've heard 'everything is a list' a zillion times already. It's just wrong. In every way.
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    A LISP program is a list of characters.
    - pavelludiq 11y ago
      If we're going to be super pedantic, the Common Lisp spec actually defines code as: "code n. 1. Trad. any representation of actions to be performed, whether conceptual or as an actual object, such as forms, lambda expressions, objects of type function, text in a source file, or instruction sequences in a compiled file. This is a generic term; the specific nature of the representation depends on its context. " http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/26_glo_c.htm#code http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/26_glo...
    - lispm 11y ago
      Actually not. A Lisp program is data. The Lisp system does not care if it comes from a text file or if it is constructed as data by a program: (list '+ '1 '2) constructs a program which can be evaluated.
      - jsprogrammer 11y ago
        I have thought about this response a bit, but, all I see here are more lists of characters.
        lispm 11y ago
        Use Lisp and you will see.