Re: Very poor Lisp performance

> Jon Harrop <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>
>> Is Lisp code not made less maintainable because of all those brackets?

Christophe Rhodes <csr21@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

> No, it is made more maintainable because of all those brackets,


> Jon Harrop <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> Consider the example:
>
> (defun fib (x)
> (if (<= x 2)
> 1
> (+ (fib (- x 2))(fib (1- x)))))
>
> In ML this is:
>
> let fib x = if x<=2 then 1 else fib(x-2) + fib(x-1)
>
> That may be easier to parse for the machine (I don't think it is though) but
> maintainability is about how easily a human can parse it.


> "Rob Thorpe" <robert.thorpe@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Some people find it readable, some don't. I personally don't find it
> very easy or very difficult.

> Brian Downing <see-signature@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> Also, I consider the reformatted Lisp to be more readable than the ML,
> but then, it's what I'm used to.


Is readability simply a subjective measure, then? If so, and if
maintainability is about how easily a human can parse it, then
maintainability is also a subjective measure (and not particularly
interesting for comparing computer languages).

It seems likely to me that languages that require complex parsers are
harder for humans to understand as well.

.

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