lua-users home
lua-l archive

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]


Norman Ramsey <nr@cs.tufts.edu> writes:
>  > I was focusing on the look of the code. You may not like the
>  > paretheses, but IMHO, in terms of elegance there's Scheme and then
>  > there's everything else.
>
> I think Haskell offers some decent competition, but I respect your opinion.
>
> I have observed as a matter of empirical fact (not opinion) that the
> parentheses are a barrier for many people---just as many people find
> S-expression syntax supremely elegant.  I happen to be one of those people
> for whom the parentheses are a barrier.  This means I can appreciate Lisp
> and Scheme only as long as I don't have to get anything done ;-)

I _like_ lisp (and scheme by extension), so I have no problem at all
with the appearance but the other points about scheme are pretty valid I
think.

As a portable/minimalist/tiny/fast/easy-to-interface/no-dialect-wars
language, Lua seems to be a lot more practical, and Lua is in many ways
as powerful and elegant as scheme (which is where many tiny extension
languages fail)...

I suppose it demonstrates the importance of a standard high-quality
implementation.

-Miles

-- 
Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra.  Suddenly it flips over,
pinning you underneath.  At night the ice weasels come.  --Nietzsche