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

[Syver Enstad]

Erik Max Francis <max at alcyone.com> writes:

> I'm an emacs user, so the first thing I did when I started fiddling
> around with Python is installed python-mode.  Because of that, I have
> never once counted spaces, never once had space/tab problems, never
> once
> 
> had a problem indenting/unintending a region, and whenever I've
> forgotten the odd colon, good ol' python-mode has made it very clear
> to
> 
> me what the problem was.
> 
> The same goes for Lisp (and all its variants, like Scheme).  You might
> 
> have to count parentheses if you had to physically write it down with
> pencil and paper, but in the real world you'll be using an editor, and
> 
> the editor will help you match parentheses and do the gruntwork for
> you.

I basically agree Erik, the parenthesis in Lisp is a matter of getting
used to something. I do find that when I am coding Elisp, I find it a
bit more work to restructure code, this is because the amount of
parenthesises but also because I follow the usual Lisp practice of
lining up the remaining parenthesis at the end of the line.

On another note, I think the Smalltalk method call (keyword message send)
syntax is fabulously readable, why haven't anybody picked that up?
Code like this is marvelously more understandable than the usual
position based argument list that one uses in Lisp and C.

Ex: 

aCircle paintOn: aCanvas at: aPoint

Where aCircle, aCanvas and aPoint are variable names, and what is
happening is that one is calling the method paintOn: at: where aCircle
is self. The alternative:

aCircle.paint(aCanvas, aPoint)

is okay for this example but the smalltalk way lets you convey much
more. Python has a kind of middle ground with its keyword messages,
which is good but not quite as nice as Smalltalk.

 

-- 

Vennlig hilsen 

Syver Enstad