Re:Overview and Introduction to Lisp (1986) [video]
by js8 on Tuesday February 20, 2018 @12:56PM
(#16422317)
My journey was from Python to (Common) Lisp to Haskell (which I decided to go with instead of Clojure). I got (almost instantly) sold on Haskell when I learned how to interpret the same code in different ways (http://www.haskellforall.com/2012/06/you-could-have-invented...) and that the types do not get in the way in Haskell as much as they do in C#/Java whatever.
I think Lisp is interesting, but I doubt you will find many parts that are "better" (more powerful or succinct) than Haskell.
Lisp is primarily about freedom that macros give you. However, the two huge use cases for macros, selective evaluation, and representing code as data (different interpretations of the same code), can be naturally done in Haskell. There are some other minority use cases for macros, but in my current view they do not justify the cost of losing the type system.
I now think that macros are an evolutionary dead end. They are powerful, but they are hard to integrate with the type system. It's kind of surprising that progress (IMHO) in programming comes from (selective) restriction of freedom. And that's why Lispers will probably strongly disagree with me...
Anyway, if you like Python, you might like Lisp. The core language is more elegant, and much more powerful, but the libraries are generally less polished.
Somebody recommended Let Over Lambda to show what macros can do, I don't disagree but I would recommend reading On Lisp first, it covers more traditional uses of macros.
I think Lisp is interesting, but I doubt you will find many parts that are "better" (more powerful or succinct) than Haskell.
Lisp is primarily about freedom that macros give you. However, the two huge use cases for macros, selective evaluation, and representing code as data (different interpretations of the same code), can be naturally done in Haskell. There are some other minority use cases for macros, but in my current view they do not justify the cost of losing the type system.
I now think that macros are an evolutionary dead end. They are powerful, but they are hard to integrate with the type system. It's kind of surprising that progress (IMHO) in programming comes from (selective) restriction of freedom. And that's why Lispers will probably strongly disagree with me...
Anyway, if you like Python, you might like Lisp. The core language is more elegant, and much more powerful, but the libraries are generally less polished.
Somebody recommended Let Over Lambda to show what macros can do, I don't disagree but I would recommend reading On Lisp first, it covers more traditional uses of macros.