RE: Functional Paradigm popularity and Maths (Was: XML as a transition to s-expr)

[Guy Steele - Sun Microsystems Labs <address@hidden>]

   From: "David Simmons" <David.Simmons@smallscript.net>
   Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 15:17:46 -0800
   ...
   > 
   > >    Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 04:23:06 -0800
   > >    From: "David Simmons" <David.Simmons@smallscript.net>
   > >
   > >    Lisp requires one to think in terms of "lists" and "recursion".
   > 
   > Yes, but that is the nature of computer science.  Would you hire a
   > programmer unfamiliar with both recursion and lists?
   
   I believe that you are following an erroneous line of reasoning. So I
   will now engage in a, brief, opinionated set of statements in what might
   seem to be academic heresy. 
   
   ...
   Third, you use the phrase "computer science". But the relevant (business
   focus) hiring decisions center around "domain expertise", team skills
   and professional skills with best-practice techniques for "software
   engineering" (not what I believe you are terming as "computer science").

Indeed, for many purposes, "computer science experts" make lousy
applications programmers.  They spend all their time inventing
new programming languages rather than getting the job done.  :-)

--Guy