Revenge of the Nerds
21 hours ago
- Programming languages are not equivalent; some are more powerful than others, and Lisp is a prime example of a powerful language.
- Managers (pointy-haired bosses) often choose mainstream languages like Java or C++ due to perceived safety and ease of hiring, ignoring the actual power of languages.
- Lisp, created in 1958, introduced many innovative ideas (e.g., conditionals, recursion, garbage collection) that are only now being adopted by mainstream languages.
- Using a more powerful language like Lisp can lead to significantly shorter code (7-20x shorter than C) and faster development, providing a competitive advantage.
- In demanding applications, the choice of language matters greatly; less powerful languages can hinder solving hard problems and limit innovation.
- The risk of using uncommon languages (e.g., compatibility, libraries, hiring) is often overstated; for serious projects, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
- Bottom-up programming and macros (unique to Lisp) allow writing programs that write programs, enabling powerful abstractions and code compression.
- Companies like ITA Software demonstrated that using Lisp can outperform competitors using mainstream technologies, exemplifying the 'recipe for making money'.