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What are the characteristics of lisp language?
**Foreword**
In the eyes of some people, Lisp is considered an "anti-intellectual" language that defies the logic of natural human language. It is often seen as only meaningful in the realm of mathematical logic and limited to niche applications. However, despite its narrow usage, it is frequently recommended and promoted.
I believe we should be open-minded and brave enough to practice and judge for ourselves. Don't dismiss or accept something without thinking or experimenting. These opinions are just tools to offer you a new perspective and a starting point for exploration.
This article is a personal summary of the characteristics of the Lisp language and a general overview. I apologize in advance if there are any shortcomings.
**About Lisp Overview**
Programming languages aren’t designed to mimic natural language. They are created to help people develop software more efficiently and make it easier for machines to understand. Lisp follows this principle. While mathematical logic is a theoretical framework, Lisp is a practical implementation. It's not just abstract theory—it’s a living, evolving system that can be applied in real-world scenarios.
Lisp was widely used by early programmers, but as software systems grew larger, its simplicity became a limitation. Its development environment was too minimalistic to meet modern expectations. However, Lisp can still build complex software if one is willing to use it. It doesn’t lose out to other popular languages when it comes to functionality.
Many people admire Lisp, often influenced by others and driven by curiosity. But how many actually use it for real projects? I can't say for sure.
**View One: (Support)**
1. **Lisp is advanced yet fundamental**: Unlike Python or Ruby, which have built-in array and hash operations, Lisp relies on a simple structure. Data in Lisp is typically made up of two parts: (car . cdr). This is called a cons cell. Complex structures like arrays, hash tables, and trees are all built from these basic elements. So, is it not basic? But it's also very advanced. C is efficient at the machine level but lacks productivity. Lisp, on the other hand, can achieve the same result with 1/10th the code. Plus, it can directly manipulate CPU registers—something even advanced virtual machine languages struggle with.
2. **Lisp is concise**: The syntax of Lisp can be summarized in one sentence: everything is enclosed in parentheses. For example, (function arg1 arg2). The first element is the function, and the rest are arguments. Elements preceded by a single quote are not evaluated—they’re treated as data. This simplicity is powerful. Like Einstein’s e=mc², the truth is elegant and straightforward. That’s why Lisp is so strong.
Most programming languages have reserved words, separating statements from data. But Lisp has no reserved words. Every atom can be a function or a variable. For instance, (print atom-1 atom-2) evaluates both atoms and passes them to the print function. If you write (atom-1 print atom-2), it evaluates print and atom-2, then calls atom-1 with those values. This flexibility allows Lisp to distinguish between data and code, enabling powerful macro systems. Macros take parameters and return code, inserting it directly into the program. No other language offers this ability because they can't differentiate between data and code.
But why hasn’t Lisp been widely adopted since its invention in 1958?
Lisp is used in education, such as in MIT’s introductory courses. In the commercial world, Paul Graham used Lisp to found Viaweb, one of the first internet companies. The reason for its limited popularity is its power. It’s flexible, almost grammar-free, which makes it hard for businesses that prioritize stability over innovation. Companies prefer languages that are easy to maintain and predictable.
Matsumoto, the creator of Ruby, once said that Lisp’s lack of grammar is problematic. He added grammatical rules to Ruby to make it more user-friendly.
From a programmer’s perspective, most people may not be as smart as hackers, and they prefer languages like Java or C++ because they are more structured. Lisp is more suited for experienced developers who value freedom and creativity.
In conclusion, Lisp is flexible and unbounded. Once you use it, you may never want to go back. It has a unique beauty. Languages like Fortran, C++, and Java were born out of necessity, while Lisp was created to reflect truth and beauty. Even after 50 years, it remains relevant.
**But from a practical standpoint, how can we use Lisp today?**
Emacs uses Emacs Lisp as its core language, making it a great way to learn. Common Lisp and Scheme are the two most well-known dialects, though their use in industry is limited. Guile is used by the GNU project, but it's not widely known. Clojure, a Lisp variant that runs on the JVM, is gaining popularity. It compiles to Java bytecode and can access all Java libraries. It can even be compiled to JavaScript for web use, opening up endless possibilities.
**View Two: (Not Supported)**
I think Lisp will never become a mainstream language. Its design is anti-human, focusing too much on machine logic rather than human readability. It uses S-expressions, which eliminate the natural infix notation like A+B that humans have used for centuries. This violates human nature, leading to its rejection by most developers.
In short, Lisp goes against our need for diversity and expression. It cannot become a mainstream programming language.
**Lisp Language Features**
Lisp is a functional programming language where all operations are implemented as functions acting on parameters. It doesn’t have traditional assignment statements or variables. Instead, it uses recursion for repeated tasks.
Lisp is a weakly typed, dynamically scoped language. Its code is represented as lists, and each element can store any type of data, including numbers, functions, symbols, or sublists. This flexibility allows for dynamic updates during runtime.
The core operators in Lisp are seven: quote, atom, eq, car, cdr, cons, and cond. These form the basis of Lisp’s expressive power, closely resembling the Turing machine model. Modern languages can't match this level of simplicity and purity.
However, Lisp's weakness as a weakly typed language leads to lower efficiency. This makes it less suitable for large-scale projects, requiring developers to implement additional features, resulting in many dialects.
**Lisp Advantages:**
- Unusual syntax acts as an IQ filter.
- Syntactic sugar is ideal for editor optimization, with no arbitrary restrictions.
- Emacs configuration is inherently personal, with small codebases that avoid quality issues in multi-person development.