Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!menudo.uh.edu!sugar!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: The powerlessness of Lisp
Message-ID: <0ACA5+4@xds13.ferranti.com>
Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva)
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
References: <16060:Mar2515:41:5691@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> <1991Mar26.165516.13035@daffy.cs.wisc.edu> <26146:Mar2804:56:5791@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> <1991Mar28.164024.21829@daffy.cs.wisc.edu>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 15:25:34 GMT

Look, folks, this C versus the world debate is the biggest pain in the
neck in comp.lang.misc. I apologise for my own small part in it, here,
and I'm bowing out. Next time you see someone claim that C can do
anything, or that C is bogus because it can't do something, keep this
in mind:

	Use the right tool for the job: C is the right tool for
	some jobs, because of the basic "portable assembler"
	design of the language lets you get down and dirty and
	write lean code. It is he wrong tool for some jobs, because
	the "portable assembler" design of the language forces
	you to get down and dirty and re-invent the wheel.

	The same is true of any language. You can write Fortran,
	Lisp, or Prolog style code in any language. If you're using
	a language that encourages lisp-style coding and what you
	need is a Forth, or you want to do AI and all you have is 
	Basic, you're going to do a lot more work or buy more hardware
	than if you pick the right tool.

AND: There has never been a language in which it is the least bit difficult
to write bad code...
-- 
Peter da Silva.  `-_-'  peter@ferranti.com
+1 713 274 5180.  'U`  "Have you hugged your wolf today?"