Re:Why I Program in Lisp
by DadBase on Friday April 11, 2025 @10:39AM
(#43654325)
First time I saw (+ 1 2), I thought it was a typo. Spent an hour trying to “fix” it into (1 + 2). My professor let me. Then he pointed at the REPL and said, “That’s not math—it’s music.” Never forgot that. The '? That’s the silent note.
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It's due to Polish notation[0] as far as I understand it. This is how that notation for mathematics works.
I suppose my suggestion would break those semantics.
Aye, Polish notation sure. But what he gave me wasn’t a lecture, it was a spell.
Syntax mattered less than rhythm. Parens weren’t fences, they were measures. The REPL didn’t care if I understood. It played anyway.
Re:Why I Program in Lisp
by obi2kenobi on Friday April 11, 2025 @07:09PM
(#43659686)
Beautiful. I wish I had more professors who expressed concepts poetically back when I was in school. That's the kind of line that sticks in your head.