[Axiom-developer] Re: Lisp

[Bill Page]

On 3/3/08, Tim Daly wrote:
> I guess the fundamental point is this:
>
>   Using s-expression syntax allows the full use of lisp.
>

That is an empty statement.

> ...
> As soon as you move away from the s-expression syntax you
> lose it all. You have to write "strings" that "have meaning", given
> by a parser, compiler, translator, etc. Lisp loses the special
> property of "turtles all the way down". It becomes just another
> programming language.

Nonesense. Many languages have the property that expressions in the
language (or even whole programs) can be represented as a data
structure in that language. For example, Gaby has provided such a
domain for OpenAxiom written in SPAD and called Syntax. There is
nothing very special about s-expressions that cannot also be expressed
by some other tree-like recursive data type.

>
>  Boot turns lisp into "just another language".
>

Lisp is "just another language".

Regards,
Bill Page.