Whitespace as syntax (was Re: Python Rocks!)

[Tim Peters]

[Neel Krishnaswami]
> ...
> So, basically, I don't care if Lisp never becomes "mainstream", if it
> means giving up what makes Lisp powerful and useful. I'm willing to
> put in the work it takes to reap the benefits, both intrinsic to the
> language and of not having to deal with people too lazy to spend 15
> minutes retraining their eyes. ;)
>
> Neel
>
> PS. I like Haskell, and Mercury, and Cecil, too. :)

Good for you, Neel!  The common assumption that languages are a zero-sum
game, where one can't prosper unless others fail, has never been true and
shows no sign of, umm, getting truer <wink>.  Applications for computers
(and so also the means of porgramming them) are exploding, not static.  The
world would be a much poorer place without Lisp and Haskell and Icon and
many dozens of others -- yes, even Fortran, even COBOL, even Visual Basic.
Any language that survives for a decade has something essential going for it
that its detractors would be wise to seek out.

and-no-language-on-earth-fits-the-perl-niche-better-than-
    perl<wink>-ly y'rs  - tim