Re: off-topic: Why is lisp so weird?

From: Feuer (feuer_at_his.com)
Date: 03/02/04 

Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2004 11:35:19 -0500

Michael Sullivan wrote:

> I think the point here is that if this fits your definition of "slow"
> then nearly every implementation of every high level language aside from
> C, C++, Fortran and a few special purpose languages is "slow".

C++ does not belong in that list. Scheme (Stalin), ML (O'Caml and the
ML Kit), and Erlang likely do belong there.

One thing that's very important is that certain language facilities make
it much easier to write certain kinds of code efficiently. Doing any
serious linked-structure manipulation efficiently in C is unbearably
difficult because C lacks automatic garbage collection (or at least
lacks the capacity to support the most efficient forms of it). Is it
possible to write such manipulations efficiently in C? Yes. But it
could be like pulling teeth. A good C programmer faced with the task
would most likely write a "fast enough" implementation instead. Only
the most dedicated library writers with the best CS training might go to
the trouble of doing the best C can do for such. In a mostly-functional
language, it is easy to write implementations that are as good as or
better than the "fast enough" C. A little hand tuning can then make
them faster than a C programmer would be willing to take them.

David

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