My point, though, was that while the proponents of Lisp define Lisp one way (by the things only Lisp can do due to e.g. homoiconicity), the opponents of Lisp (like the author was, coming into the course) define Lisp by the set of features that make Lisp "not a Real Programmer†'s programming language"—i.e. the set of things that make them not want to use it.
My assertion was, from these opponents' perspectives, there are very few languages left for "Real Programmers"; most modern languages have inherited nearly all of those horribly convenient Lisp-isms. Heck—modern CPUs are so good at pointer-chasing, they may as well be Lisp Machines!
My point, though, was that while the proponents of Lisp define Lisp one way (by the things only Lisp can do due to e.g. homoiconicity), the opponents of Lisp (like the author was, coming into the course) define Lisp by the set of features that make Lisp "not a Real Programmer†'s programming language"—i.e. the set of things that make them not want to use it.
† http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/R/Real-Programmer.html
My assertion was, from these opponents' perspectives, there are very few languages left for "Real Programmers"; most modern languages have inherited nearly all of those horribly convenient Lisp-isms. Heck—modern CPUs are so good at pointer-chasing, they may as well be Lisp Machines!