merits of Lisp vs Python

[Robert Uhl]

Steven D'Aprano <steve at REMOVE.THIS.cybersource.com.au> writes:
>
> Even if you're stuck on some god-forsaken Windows PC with just
> Notepad, you can still read Python code.

Ummm...Lisp ain't APL--it's just ASCII (or ISO-8859-1 or Unicode or
whatever...), and thus just as readable in Notepad as anything else.

> Now, *writing* Python code with Notepad isn't as easy, but it is still
> doable. How about Lisp code?

Given that fellows were writing Lisp code before there were CRTs
(e.g. using teletypes to type), it's quite doable.  Would I want to do
so?  Of course not, no more than I'd want to write Python in Notepad.

> The day has not yet arrived that nobody ever needs to edit code in a
> plain, vanilla text editor.

My platform has emacs and vi by default.  There are editors as
brain-damaged as Notepad, but I never use them, and in an emergency they
wouldn't run (as they require X).

Now, force me to write Lisp _or_ Python in ed and things will get very
ugly...

-- 
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
Whoa, there.  Those are some strong words for somebody who doesn't
even own a machine gun.                              --Milkman Dan