Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!pp!hi3!rosenstn
From: rosenstn@hi3.ACA.MCC.COM (Mark Rosenstein)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Lisp data and program having same representation still important!
Keywords: resistance to lisp
Message-ID: <230@hi3.ACA.MCC.COM>
Date: 2 Jun 89 12:08:04 GMT
References: <31670@sri-unix.SRI.COM> <469@skye.ed.ac.uk> <1028@syma.sussex.ac.uk> <1168@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov>
Organization: MCC, Austin, TX
Lines: 19


   In article <11917@well.UUCP> nagle@well.UUCP (John Nagle) writes:

   On the other hand, the fact that data and programs have the same 
   representation in LISP really doesn't seem to be used all that much
   any more.  It was felt to be terribly important at one time, but today,
   it just doesn't seem to be a big issue.
 
Ummmm. The only datapoint I have is my own work, and work in the 5
or 6 projects here at work that I know about. I would say all of them
use the fact that data and program have the same representation. I
would be so bold as to exagerate that the only interesting lisp programs
are ones that generate and manipulate structure as programs. [Then compile
'em and use 'em, of course]. Of course elsewhere it may be different.
I find this especially true in object oriented systems like CLOS and 
flavors, where a lot of what happens is that the program is happily
creating new classes and methods for those classes and then using
them.

Mark.