Ask HN: Is Lisp still used as a programming language? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is Lisp still used as a programming language?

3 pointsabhayhegde7 comments

I am a physics student and I know fair bit of programming, specifically, C++, Python, MATLAB and Mathematica. I also have a fair knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

I enjoy learning a new programming language. Although I am not looking for a job right now, and this venture is certainly not directly aimed at it, I would like to know which basic language should I choose to learn for fun. In short, my goal is to learn new languages and better if it can also help me find jobs/projects in future, although not the primary requirement.

Many old physics algorithms were written in FORTRAN, and some still use it. But I also heard Haskell would be fun to learn, and would be of help. Having read Paul Graham's advices, Lisp is still on the top of languages. My question is whether Lisp is currently used and would it be of any practical significance in future? Any suggestion is welcome.

I have used Scheme and Clojure witch are both dialects of lisp a few times a months to try out ideas for ProjectEuler. Lisp, Haskell or F# or what every pure functional language you would like to use force you to translate math to code very cleanly. so when you are doing something that is very close to implementing pure math in code people still use these tools a lot.

But regarding your point is it still used at a job. Well I at least have never seen it mentioned on a job position. But some companies also specifically remove this from there job openings to not scare people.

Yep. Nearly every day. Have been lisping since lisp 1.5 in 1971. Lisp is "mental clay". It has the lowest "impedence mismatch" between your problem and your solution.

You'll only appreciate PG's fanaticism for Lisp if you've programmed in it exclusively for about a year. Common tasks flow effortlessly from the Lisp mind-meld with short-and-sweet potency. Haskell is fun, yes, but rather sententious in its purity whereas Lisp is both elegant and "scrappy" (thus the term "Lisp hacker"). Neither is commonplace in scientific computing, however.

If you haven't learned Emacs, I suggest you do. It uses a dialect of Lisp -- Emacs Lisp -- that powers the program. Emacs Lisp can be used to extend the editor to your heart's content.

It's a win-win: You use a wonderful piece of software that can extended with a version of LISP that you can use immediately.

I have been using vim for the past 8-9 months and have been in love with it. Many people suggested me to use Emacs and if it helps learning Lisp, I shall give it a try definitely.

It will certainly help you learn Emacs Lisp, which is a dialect of Lisp.

Check out Clojure, it is a dialect of Lisp.

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