Re: Is Lisp a Blub?

On Jul 9, 9:22 pm, George Neuner <gneune...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It took (comparitively) a long time for VB's star to fade because of
the way business embraced it.

So if Lisp were to become more popular, would it make the average
program and the average programmer better or worse? I don't think
so. I think Lisp becoming more popular would raise the status quo for
everyone.

Now, if Lisp compromised what makes Lisp special there wouldn't be any
point. But if Lisp became more popular just by lowering some of the
barriers to entry and making more programmers and managers and
entrepeneurs aware of what it can do, that would be good for everyone.

I wouldn't go too far in saying that VB made things worse for
everyone, though. It probably enabled a lot of productivity by
allowing more people to write "programs" to do things they needed to
do.

I don't think there's any reason Lisp couldn't have played that role
if history had played out differently. People new to programming
could probably care less whether it's (draw shape) or shape.draw().
They're both just as arbitrary. But the VB form builder was there in
the right place at the right time at the right place with the right
marketing and so it won. Hypercard could have easily played that role,
too, but that takes me too far off topic.

-jimbo

.

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