Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!spool2.mu.edu!samsung!dali.cs.montana.edu!milton!milton.u.washington.edu!jsp From: jsp@glia.biostr.washington.edu. (Jeff Prothero) Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Subject: Lisp vs Functional programming Message-ID: Date: 14 Jan 91 19:40:16 GMT References: <2456@paradigm.com> <22573@well.sf.ca.us> <96861@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <5256@idunno.Princeton.EDU> <1991Jan14.141651.12321@arris.com> Sender: news@milton.u.washington.edu Organization: Biological Structure, U of Wash, Seattle Lines: 25 In-reply-to: rshapiro@arris.com's message of 14 Jan 91 14:16:51 GMT In article <1991Jan14.141651.12321@arris.com> rshapiro@arris.com (Richard Shapiro) writes: >[Lisp is] the best general purpose programming language for symbolic >computing, and symbolic computing has turned out to be very useful in >AI applications. There are special purpose languages that are better >at symbol manipulation, but of the widely available general languages, >no other one really comes close. Speaking as one of those brain-dead C hackers who's beginning to take an interest in Lisp (and a little discouraged to hear it's dead :-), I'd be curious to hear what you hardcore Lisp types think about the latest wave of functional languages generally, and Haskell in particular. * Bad idea? * Potential replacement for lisp? * Interesting idea, but completely different ecological niche? (My apologies if this issue has been beaten to death already!) -- Jeff Prothero (jsp@u.washington.edu) Biological Structure Graphics Lab, University of Washington