wes-exp

Take Java 8 which now has map: sure, you can pass a lambda expression with a custom function body, but is using functions (particularly side-effect-free ones) as arguments idiomatic otherwise? I can only imagine the amount of ceremony code that ensues when trying to merge those worlds. Don't get me wrong, having map/reduce/etc. is an improvement to Java for sure, but Lisp is still well ahead on the overall cohesion and utility of such things within the context of the rest of the language.

Lambda expressions - just now reaching Java and C++, been in Lisp forever

Garbage collection – (obviously)

Turing-complete (edit: fully evaluating) macro systems – I've heard C++ is moving in this direction (not sure to be honest) but Lisp is still ahead on this

Gradual/optional typing – Others have been moving towards this, CL has had it forever

Interactivity/REPL – e.g. Swift may finally give a REPL to systems programmers, Lisp has had it forever

Dynamism/late-binding – Lisp is still way ahead on this, goes hand-in-hand with interactivity

Everything serializable – Lisp is still ahead

Structured code editing (paredit) – Lisp is still ahead, not sure anyone else even knows what this is

Multiple inheritance – I think this is coming to Java finally

Image systems (hibernating a running process) – Still ahead

Condition system / advanced exception handling – Still ahead

Functional programming techniques (map, reduce, etc.) – Still ahead

Keyword arguments – Recently added to Ruby, Lisp has had them forever

The thing about Java and C++ is that they themselves are around for historical reasons. Far better languages have already been proven out. But, it will take a major industry player to move the masses forward on this. Apple's Swift effort gives hope on this.

It prevents forking. MS doesn't want to compete against its own kernel. Even Android doesn't want to compete against itself, hence the manufacturer agreement(s) that make it effectively closed.

Completely and utterly false. Lisp's s-expression syntax is trivial to parse because it is so regular.

The thing with imperative programming

Common Lisp is multi-paradigm, as mentioned in the site's FAQ. You can write imperative code all you want.

Intellectual property is also a government-protected monopoly, created for the advancement of society.

Basically I'm saying that monopoly can be good or bad depending on the specifics. So competition can be very destructive in some cases.

e.g. "Progress comes from monopoly, not competition" — Peter Thiel

That said, lack of non-compete enforcement is often credited as one of the contributing factors to California's excellent startup environment.

Would this be cool or am I dreaming?

I don't see anywhere on the page where it is critical of recreating SQL syntax. I think the trap the SQL stuff is trying to avoid is doing everything through OOP method calls — something like Django's filter method, which the page explicitly calls out.

Even if it was critical of recreating SQL, the point of an s-expression syntax is that it is still SQL, rather than a naïve reinvention that ends up missing important features.