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

[Pekka Niiranen]

Absolutely correct,

one reads lisp code by indentation; the parens are for the interpreter only.
Reinventing and getting speed by writing C-extensions? No thanks.

-pekka-

Kenny Tilton wrote:

>
>
> maney at pobox.com wrote:
>
>> Courageous <jkraska at san.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>>> One of Lisp's _lethal_ failings is that anyone not using Emacs (or
>>> something like Emacs) is a second class citizen. The decision to
>>> require a programmer to use a special editor is a fatal one.
>>
>>
>>
>> But perhaps an unavoidable one.
>
>
> I have been doing CL nonstop for seven years and have yet to learn 
> Emacs, tho I /did/ use MCLs emacs-like editor and I do have ACLs 
> editor in "Emacs mode". But this just has to do with the key combos 
> being the same, not the whole nine yards. and with acl i do not even 
> have to do emacs mode.
>
> No matter what Lisp IDE you use (LW, ACL, Corman, MCL) you'll get a 
> Lisp-aware editor, the way IDLE is Python-aware.
>
>> I have never before seen the true reason
>> Lisp's annoying parentheses-plagued syntax has persisted, let alone why
>> it might be worth putting up with.
>
>
> If you ever get out of the starting blocks, the parentheses will 
> disappear (but make editing much easier). Python code looks nice and 
> clean thx to the indentation thang, but Lisp code is self-indenting 
> thx to the parens. ie, I can select as big a function I like and just 
> say re-indent, and I'm done. And because Lisp is self indenting, when 
> i hit tab (telling it to reindent that line, not insert a tab) I can 
> see at one if I have typed too few or not enough parens. This happens 
> rarely because any matching parens is highlighted after I type a 
> parens, so I just look around if I lose track or get way deep into an 
> expression and need several parens to get out.
>
> The bottom line is that no regular Lisper is bothered by parens and in 
> fact we all prefer them thanks to their facilitation of editing chunks 
> of code (by double-clicking a form of any size).
>
>