Xref: utzoo comp.lang.misc:3792 comp.lang.c:24797
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!cbmvax!snark!eric
From: eric@snark.uu.net (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: The Fundamental Concept of Programming language X
Message-ID: <1TzGbd#48h84g=eric@snark.uu.net>
Date: 31 Dec 89 18:04:00 GMT
References: <1470@mdbs.UUCP>
Lines: 33

In <1470@mdbs.UUCP> Bill Smith wrote:
> Language	Fundamental Concept
> 
> Lisp		Lists + dynamic scope

Nah. Not all LISPs are dynamically scoped. One major dialect allows you to
choose dynamic or lexical scoping on a per-variable basis! Make that

Lisp		Lists as fundamental type + code as data + dynamic allocation

> Scheme		Closures + static scope

Vot's dis "static scope"? Make that "lexical scope".

> Fortran 	Arrays + fixed allocation
> C		pointers + dynamic allocation

Interesting claim, considering that malloc isn't part of C. Try

C		HLL as portable assembler, pointers as first-class citizens

> Ada		Generics (?)

Ada doesn't have a unifying concept. That's its fatal flaw.

> FORTH		Threaded code + postfix notation
> Cobol		Formatting of data
> BASIC		the statement as a unit of program
> SNOBOL		Strings

Make that "strings as only data type"...and add

APL		arrays as the only data type