Python and Lisp : car and cdr

[Chris Angelico]

On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 10:56 PM, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
> Lie Ryan wrote:
>> def cdr(L):
>>    return L[1]
>
> IANAL (I am not a Lisper), but shouldn't that be 'return L[1:]' ?

In LISP, a list is a series of two-item units (conses).

>> L = (a, (b, (c, (d, None))))

This represents the LISP equivalent of [a, b, c, d] in Python. A list
is a linked list, not an array (as in Python).

IANAL either though, someone else may wish to clarify the advantages
of this system.

ChrisA