Re: XML as a transition to s-expr

[Michael Vanier <address@hidden>]

> Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 15:21:55 -0800 (PST)
> From: Paul Graham <paulgraham@yahoo.com>
>
> Users loved RTML.  That was what taught me for sure
> (as the Dylan guys hypothesized, and the Python and Ruby 
> guys proved) that the only thing standing between Lisp 
> and even the most novice programmers was the parentheses.
> 

And if you need any more proof, consider Rebol, which is very popular with
some (presumably non-academic) users.  Rebol is basically lisp with 2/3 of the
parens removed and the rest replaced with square brackets (to oversimplify
massively).

I myself, paren-lover that I am, only saw the light when I realized how
much harder it would be to do macros in a non S-expression-based language.
The other factor was sheer exhaustion from learning 20+ slight variations
of algolish syntax for every new language that came out.  The great thing
about s-expressions is their neutrality; nothing gets preferential
treatment.  This means that everything is equally cumbersome, for both good
and bad.

Mike