Re:J Notation as a Tool of Thought
by coliveira on Saturday August 15, 2020 @11:36AM
(#24169608)
That is fine. Most people simply cannot drive a Formula-1 car, but it would be stupid to conclude that a F-1 is a cursed car and nobody should want to drive one. Similarly, a few languages can only be used by highly trained people who understand well how it works. Lisp, Forth, and J are in that category of tools that require highly trained people. In their hand, one of these languages can do fantastic things, in the hands of an average programmer you have nothing.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Lisp without macros can be and is used by 'normal programmers'. And even with macros it's not like it's witchcraft that only a select few can handle. It's a powerful language, but nonetheless a language that everyone can learn.
That is actually a nice analogy! No one, not even the pro formula-1 drivers will want to drive a f1 car in regular traffic. Much the same with these languages (apls, lisps, forth, etc); they have their place and role, but is better not used in regular open source or commercial codes.
That is absolutely false. I have seen absolutely horrible "clever" code hacks in Java production code - absolutely opaque and extremely complicated.
Lisp is definitely a good choice for 'regular open source or commercial code'.