Notes on  LISP 

[from `LISt Processing language', but mythically from `Lots of
Irritating Superfluous Parentheses'] AI's mother tongue, a language
based on the ideas of (a) variable-length lists and trees as
fundamental data types, and (b) the interpretation of code as data
and vice-versa. Invented by John McCarthy at MIT in the late 1950s,
it is actually older than any other HLL still in use except
FORTRAN. Accordingly, it has undergone considerable adaptive
radiation over the years; modern variants are quite different in
detail from the original LISP 1.5. The dominant HLL among hackers
until the early 1980s, LISP has since shared the throne with C. Its
partisans claim it is the only language that is truly beautiful. See
LANGUAGES OF CHOICE.

All LISP functions and programs are expressions that return values;
this, together with the high memory utilization of LISPs, gave rise
to Alan Perlis's famous quip (itself a take on an Oscar Wilde quote)
that "LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of
nothing".

One significant application for LISP has been as a proof by example
that most newer languages, such as COBOL and Ada, are full of
unnecessary CROCKs. When the RIGHT THING has already been done
once, there is no justification for BOGOSITY in newer languages.

[lisp.png]

We've got your numbers....

J3N Research Labs

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