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do...until wisdom needed...

Dave LeBlancwhisper at oz.net
Tue Apr 17 11:47:16 EDT 2001


I've always thought that programming with Lisp was a lot like tryingto make rope out of ((((((jello)))))).Dave LeBlancOn 16 Apr 2001 19:53:18 -0400, Douglas Alan <nessus at mit.edu> wrote:>"Alex Martelli" <aleaxit at yahoo.com> writes:>>> "Douglas Alan" <nessus at mit.edu> wrote in message>>> > "Alex Martelli" <aleaxit at yahoo.com> writes:>>> > > Exact syntax sugar could be endlessly (and fruitlessly) debated, but>> > > the general idea might be:>>> > Python should have procedural macros like Lisp.  Then whenever anyone>> > asks a question about why Python doesn't have syntactic feature xyzzy,>> > the answer can always be, "You can already do what you want by loading>> > the following macro....">>> Yes, 'hygienic macros' WOULD help cut these discussions short.  Pity>> this benefit (basically restricted to c.l.p) would be balanced by>> the productivity loss engendered by the actual existence of such>> macros in the language -- a language which may have ANY 'syntactic>> feature' ensures any given program is impossible to understand>> unless you first study the exact set of macros used by its>> author:-).>>What happened to giving programmers enough rope to hang themselves?>What happened to the desire for flexibility and expressive power?>>Sure, macros are a long rope, but some tasks require a long rope.>Take a look at Guy Steele's maxim that a large language is impossible>to design well, but a small language is doomed to die.  A language>needs to be able to grow over time.  Procedural macros in Lisp allowed>Lisp to continue to evolve over time, so that even though it was>invented in the '50's, it remains today one of the most modern of>languages.  It was able to do this, in part, by allowing every user to>experiment with adding language features, not just the language>Illuminati.>>And macros don't ensure that *any* given program is impossible to>understand -- it only helps nutty programmers make programs that are>impossible to understand.  Conversely, macros can help wise>programmers in making programs that are shorter, easier to understand,>easier to code, and easier to maintain.>>|>oug


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