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From: hen@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Bill Henneman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: lisp
Message-ID: <12587@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: Fri, 4-Sep-87 11:54:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: bu-cs.12587
Posted: Fri Sep  4 11:54:56 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Sep-87 17:49:45 EDT
References: <855@tjalk.cs.vu.nl> <2683@hoptoad.uucp> <1519@sol.ARPA> <4307@teddy.UUCP> <1931@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU> <13290@clyde.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: hen@bu-cs.UUCP (Wm. H. Henneman)
Organization: Boston Univ. CS Dept.
Lines: 31

In article  <13290@clyde.ATT.COM>  spf@moss.UUCP (Steve Frysinger) writes:

>In article <1931@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU> mac@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU
 (Alex Colvin) writes:

>>In LISP, however, we don't care about syntax.  If we don't like it, we
>>rewire it.  We're more interested in semantics.  This where the
>>differences among LISPs become interesting.  We sometimes rewire the
>>evaluator and builtin functions when we don't like the way they work. 

>This reminds me of the fellow who invented new words as he felt
>necessary to express his meaning at the time.  He was extremely
>happy with himself, and relished his freedom of language.  The
>only difficulty, of course, was that no one understood what he
>was saying.

That was the wrong association.  It should have reminded you of the
skilled machinist who uses *very* general-purpose tools which are
quickly and easily customized by means of jigs and hold-downs to a
special-purpose tool ideally matched to the problem at hand.

You might compare the approach taken to software devlopment by one
influential group at B*ll L*bs described by Ralph E. Griswold in the
book *The Macro Implementations of SNOBOL 4*.  These highly respected
computer professionals describe exactly the same approach to system
building that you took Alex Colvin to task for.  

			Bill Henneman

"Failure to understand reality is not realiy's fault"
		- Bill Henneman