Why is Python popular, while Lisp and Scheme aren't?

[Pascal Costanza]

maney at pobox.com wrote:

> Every language has a speed bump - some amount of new and/or different
> stuff that you just have to work through before it all starts to make
> sense.  If the new language is very similar to one(s) already known,
> the bump may be so small you hardly notice it; other times it may
> involve learning a whole new style (OO or functional are common
> examples) and it may be considerable.  Lisp is, if not unique, still
> unusual in that it has a second speed bump, because its syntax is
> extremely awkward to deal with until you've acclimated to a suitable
> IDE or syntax-aware editor.  This conceptually unnecessary additional
> barrier to entry must surely help hold down the rate at which new
> converts make it through to become happy Lisp users.

I think I could agree to most of this, except for the "conceptually 
unnecessary additional barrier" bit. In fact, that "barrier" is 
conceptually necessary. You cannot change the syntax of Lisp in 
non-trivial ways without turning it into a very different language at 
the conceptual level.


Pascal

-- 
Given any rule, however ‘fundamental’ or ‘necessary’ for science, there 
are always circumstances when it is advisable not only to ignore the 
rule, but to adopt its opposite. - Paul Feyerabend