merits of Lisp vs Python

[Ken Tilton]

Paul Rubin wrote:
> Ken Tilton <kentilton at gmail.com> writes:
> 
>>Have you read On Lisp by Paul Graham? It is on-line. Just the preface
>>will do, I think, maybe also Chapter One where he raves on macros. Do
>>you think he is mistaken? Confused? Lying? Mutant?
> 
> 
> I remember Paul Graham's piece about macros that made him sound like
> someone who went nuts with them, as is certainly possible to do.

But you could have just flipped thru the rest of the pages to see if he 
/had/ gone nuts with them!

>  In
> my experience, good coders write for clarity and that includes in
> their use of Lisp macros.  All in all Lisp's macro system is something
> like the C preprocessor.  Yes, you can obfuscate things horribly with
> it, but you can also use it to make things clearer, and that's what
> good programmers do.

One has to be from the US and of a certain age to remember this, but 
this old line from a commercial for high-octane gasoline says it for me: 
power to be used, not abused.

ken

-- 
Algebra: http://www.tilton-technology.com/LispNycAlgebra1.htm

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty-five
years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally
won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd

"I'll say I'm losing my grip, and it feels terrific."
    -- Smiling husband to scowling wife, New Yorker cartoon