> From: A. Pagaltzis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > * Ryan, Martin G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2006-08-31 03:30]:
> > In certain problem domains each remains the language of choice. > > They weren't aiming to solve as broad a range of problems as > > perl does so one shouldn't expect them to have as high a > > profile. > > That is true of Forth, but not Lisp. There's a reason that Larry > calls Lisp the most beautiful language in the world. But you left out the awful part.... :-) Larry Wall (c.1994): "Lisp has all the visual appeal of oatmeal with fingernail clippings mixed in." Larry Wall (c.2006): "I simultaneously believe that languages are wonderful and awful. You have to hold both of those. Ugly things can be beautiful. And beautiful can get ugly very fast. You know, take Lisp. You know, it's the most beautiful language in the world. At least up until Haskell came along. (laughter) But, you know, every program in Lisp is just ugly. I don't figure how that works." > In fact, Perl 6 is the first effort I am aware of where a > language from outside the Lisp family is trying to compete (*and* > win) at all the disciplines Lisp is good at. Absolutely!! (At least when it comes to a fairly popular and mainstream language family.) I think it's difficult to over-emphasize the extreme importance and power (and -Ofun!) of that. (C6PAN can become much more super-charged as well. And yet, simple things will still be easy, and lots of currently difficult things will become semi-easy.) Larry Wall (c.2006): "Perhaps the Perl 6 slogan should be "All Your Paradigms Are Belong To Us". We'll get to that." (... As you were saying, in somewhat different words.) More off the Wall Perl's of wit are at: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Larry_Wall. Some great essays (by Paul Graham) on why Lisp is important--and by implication, why Perl 6 is likely to be awesome: "Beating the Averages" (Lisp as a secret competitive weapon for startups.) http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html "What Made Lisp Different" http://www.paulgraham.com/diff.html "The Python Paradox" http://www.paulgraham.com/pypar.html "The Hundred Year Language" http://www.paulgraham.com/hundred.html Best regards, Conrad Schneiker www.AthenaLab.com Nano-electron-beam and micro-neutron-beam technology. The Perl 6 Users FAQ has moved to: http://perl.net.au/wiki/Perl_6_Users_FAQ Check out the new Perl 6 Workplace Wiki: http://rakudo.org/perl6
