none of the above ([info]aisa0) wrote,
@ 2008-08-25 13:51:00
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Entry tags:hacking, lisp

I *like* non-hygenic macros thankyouverymuch.
For years I've been asked why I wrote a particular piece of code a certain way, and I've often responded with "Oh, I've studied a lot of Lisp and it influenced the way I write code."

Now, after asking how to port some code to an upcoming release of chicken (A Scheme compiler, Scheme being a dialect of Lisp), I've been asked why I wrote a particular piece of code a certain way.

This is either a new low or a new high.

I never thought the lisp community would grow so quickly that the way they wrote code would perceptively change. I could have guessed I would like it better the way it was though. damn kids schemers.


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[info]gwillen
2008-08-25 08:04 pm UTC (link)
Schemers have never supported non-hygienic macros. They mostly see CL as the senile nursing-home bound grandfather of the Lisp family. "Yes grandpa, of course you don't need macro hygiene. Uh-huh. Whatever you say."

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[info]aisa0
2008-08-25 08:10 pm UTC (link)
In the new, not-yet-released-nor-in-trunk version of chicken, they've turned off defmacro. Which, as a lisper, I was using.

I do really want to like scheme, because the idea that you could take a simple concept (s-expressions) and keep it simple is very appealing. But the scheme community has evolved from keep it simple to make things *appear* to be simple while hiding the complexity.

What continues to attract me to scheme is the wide variety of interface libraries available, which increases the number of places I can use it. So I'll deal. Certainly I'll be happier than if I were using CL. But I'd be most happy with a lisp-1 and a very tiny world.

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[info]two_pi_r
2008-08-25 08:40 pm UTC (link)
That Scheme attitude kind of bothers me, which is why I use CL. :)

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[info]aisa0
2008-08-25 09:08 pm UTC (link)
They might not have supported them in the sense of being in favour of them, but define-macro at least existed. ^_^

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[info]yarrowkat
2008-08-25 08:25 pm UTC (link)
aesthetics. you can always claim aesthetics.

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[info]aisa0
2008-08-25 08:28 pm UTC (link)
The process of preparing programs for a digital computer is especially attractive, not only because it can be economically and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic experience much like composing poetry or music.

Even Donald Knuth says so!

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[info]yarrowkat
2008-08-25 08:35 pm UTC (link)
you should get a look at this book i'm reading now. it keeps putting quotation marks around all that outrageous new "technology" stuff, like "chips."

(it's kind of cute for a minute, and kind of really annoying, actually--they could have fixed that in the 2002 reprint of the 1974 text).

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[info]aisa0
2008-08-25 09:07 pm UTC (link)
The trigonometric table book I recently purchased, that is a reprint of a public domain book, was scanned/photographed instead of retyped. I really appreciate that, because it is mind numbing work that requires a huge degree of accuracy, but it means some of the text is smeared or damaged from the original copy.

This was book you are talking about was retypeset, or just copied?

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[info]yarrowkat
2008-08-25 09:08 pm UTC (link)
reprinted--a new edition, which does involve new typesetting.

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awwwwww.....
[info]ashti25
2008-08-25 08:49 pm UTC (link)
are they on your lawn?

(I'm just wondering, 'coz for once those darn kids aren't on MY lawn!)

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Re: awwwwww.....
[info]aisa0
2008-08-25 09:04 pm UTC (link)
On my lawn. With hula hoops. Listening to that damn rock and roll music.

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