WHY ISN'T LISP A MAINSTREAM LANGUAGE?
Dear Lisp Users,
I'm the one(rascal?) who a month or two ago first posed the
question to this group: Why Isn't LISP a mainstream language?
Thanks for all the emails I've received on this question.
I'd like to report my own conclusion from all this.
IMHO Lisp is the most expressive of all computer languages thus
far advanced. So when the problem is so complex that clear and
relatively brief representation of what's going on is the major issue,
then LISP is the best language to use. Therefore we see and will
continue to see the close connection between AI programs, which by
definition address the most complex problems, and the Lisp language.
In most people's opinion Lisp is slower than the mainstream
languages. It's object modules are also relatively larger.
Along with the expressivity of Lisp comes a large vocabulary
of built-in functions. Learning to use these effectively is
a great challenge. Many programmers are not bright enough
to learn Lisp well.
I conclude that if
1: you have very bright programmers and
2: the problem being programmed is at the forefront of
complexity and
3: run-time efficiency is secondary, then Lisp
is the language of choice.
Since these three conditions do not commonly all coexist,
LISP is not as popular as simpler and more run-time
efficient languages. When the three conditions all hold,
then IMHO, Lisp is the preferred language. I expect to
return to the scene in another 20 years and see the same picture.
Thank you all for your enlightening comments.
Sincerely yours,
Malcolm Bersohn