From ... Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!news.algonet.se!algonet!newsfeed1.bredband.com!bredband!uio.no!news-feed.ifi.uio.no!ifi.uio.no!not-for-mail From: Erik Naggum Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Subject: Re: The Next Generation of Lisp Programmers Date: 26 Aug 2002 14:01:30 +0000 Organization: Naggum Software, Oslo, Norway Lines: 30 Message-ID: <3239359290565081@naggum.no> References: <3239282082503601@naggum.no> <3239316488198320@naggum.no> <3d69f031.166956420@newsvr> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: maud.ifi.uio.no 1030370490 7644 129.240.64.16 (26 Aug 2002 14:01:30 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@ifi.uio.no NNTP-Posting-Date: 26 Aug 2002 14:01:30 GMT Mail-Copies-To: never User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.2 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.lisp:38823 * Ziv Caspi | It is not obvious that use of \i{foo} (or {i foo}) is always better than use | of foo. In TeX and LaTeX, for example, once the scope gets "too | big", a switch is made to the \start{}...\stop{} way of doing things. While | redundant, it helps in catching the types of mistakes people (as opposed to | computers and geeks) tend to make. This is a good point, but my counter-argument is that your editor should make these things easier for you if the element contents becomes too large. | You make some misleading remarks with your (+ 2 2) vs. 2 + 2 example. (+ 2 | 2) can certainly appear in a scope that modifies it to mean any number of | things other than 4. Sure, but you will prove my point when you demonstrate the magnitude of the work involved in making alternative interpretations. | The difference between LISP and Algol-like languages (say, C) here is that | in C it is usually quite easy to determine where the enclosing context that | might affect the expression starts and stops (assuming this is not a | string/remark/etc, you can limit your reading to the area between the | previous and next semicolons, for example). This cannot be said about LISP. Sorry, but this is nonsense. -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.