From: Josquin S. Corrales
Subject: LISP v C++/C
Date: 
Message-ID: <JSC.96May24134128@sandiego.gensym.com>
Any good papers or sites that address the topic of comparing LISP (any dialect)
to C and C++.  I the information from the FAQ about the speed of C vs. LISP, but
that's as much as I've found at this point.
Thanks,
- Jay

From: Marty Hall
Subject: Re: LISP v C++/C
Date: 
Message-ID: <Drxs4J.FLz@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu>
In article <·················@sandiego.gensym.com> ···@gensym.com
(Josquin S. Corrales) writes: 
>Any good papers or sites that address the topic of comparing LISP (any dialect)
>to C and C++.  

The answer to which is better is obvious to anyone with above a second
grade education. Cross-posted to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++.

(No, relax, put those flamethrowers down. *Down* I say. Just kidding.)

Seriously though, email opinions to him, but let's not start another
flamewar now.
						- Marty
(proclaim '(inline skates))
Lisp Resources: <http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/lisp.html>
From: ········@charm.net    [Kevin J Baxter]
Subject: Re: LISP v C++/C
Date: 
Message-ID: <4ogf5k$5mu@canton.charm.net>
In <·················@sandiego.gensym.com>, ···@gensym.com (Josquin S. Corrales) writes:
>Any good papers or sites that address the topic of comparing LISP (any dialect)
>to C and C++.  I the information from the FAQ about the speed of C vs. LISP, but
>that's as much as I've found at this point.
>Thanks,
>- Jay

Jay:

Here we go again.  Come on, Jay, I am a C programmer, but I know
better than to compare languages as different as C and Lisp.

Please, all, don't flame this troll, just ignore him (if possible).

Comparing Lisp is C is like comparing FORTRAN to COBOL:  you're talking
apple to oranges.  Vastly different purposes; totally different perspectives.

The Good Lord knows there're four topics reasonable people we should 
never debate:

	1)	programming languages
	2)	operating systems
	3)	religion
	4)	politics

Enough said.  Thanks.

-Kevin
From: Ken Tilton
Subject: Re: LISP v C++/C
Date: 
Message-ID: <31B2FB28.111D@bway.net>
········@charm.net, [Kevin, J, Baxter] wrote:
> 
> In <·················@sandiego.gensym.com>, ···@gensym.com (Josquin S. Corrales) writes:
> >Any good papers or sites that address the topic of comparing LISP (any dialect)
> >to C and C++.  I the information from the FAQ about the speed of C vs. LISP, but
> >that's as much as I've found at this point.
> >Thanks,
> >- Jay
> 
> Jay:
> 
> Here we go again.  Come on, Jay, I am a C programmer, but I know
> better than to compare languages as different as C and Lisp.
> 

No quarrel with your observation in re the wide differences, but I had to respond because a 
couple of weeks ago I had started compiling a language comparison table while trying to 
decide if Java was more like Smalltalk or C++.

I ended up with columns for Lisp, Dylan, Smalltalk, Java and C++. C would have been 
pointless given the rows I had in mind:

The rows were dynamism, GC, multiple-inheritance, macros, closures, strong vs loose typing 
(aka compile-time vs run-time), "all-objects-all-the-time", is-it-compiled, source as text 
file, and maybe others. (Can't find it now.)

I put things in the list which IMO really mattered to programming productivity. I left out 
things which were true of all of them, such as supporting recursion.

It was fun, and the kind of thing I think we Lisp proponents should encourage the Great 
Unsaved to undertake. Needless to say, Lisp came out looking pretty good.

My two bits.

Cheers,

Ken
From: Ken Tilton
Subject: Re: LISP v C++/C
Date: 
Message-ID: <31B4552B.F2B@bway.net>
I wrote:
> 
> It was fun, and the kind of thing I think we Lisp proponents should encourage the Great
> Unsaved to undertake. Needless to say, Lisp came out looking pretty good.
> 

As I wrote the above, a soft alarm went off. Checked my Bartlett's this AM, and indeed I have misquoted Henry Peter, 
Lord Brougham (1778-1868).

"The great Unwashed," said his Lordness.

Cheers,

Ken