From: Emre Sevinc
Subject: The nature of Lisp - how an enterprise Java programmer was enlightened
Date:
Message-ID: <87lkrp6qjb.fsf@ileriseviye.org>
The funniest part of the article:
"The enlightenment came instantaneously. One moment I understood nothing,
and the next moment everything clicked into place. I've achieved nirvana.
Dozens of times I heard Eric Raymond's statement quoted by different people:
'Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will
have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer
for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot.'
I never understood this statement. I never believed it could be true. And
finally, after all the pain, it made sense! There was more truth to it than I
ever could have imagined. I've achieved an almost divine state of mind,
an instantaneous enlightenment experience that turned my view of computer
science on its head in less than a single second.
That very second I became a member of the Lisp cult. I felt something a
ninjitsu master must feel: I had to spread my newfound knowledge to at least
ten lost souls in the course of my lifetime. I took the usual path. I was
rehashing the same arguments that were given to me for years (only now they
actually made sense!), hoping to convert unsuspecting bystanders. It didn't work.
My persistence sparked a few people's interest but their curiosity dwindled at
the mere sight of sample Lisp code. Perhaps years of advocacy would forge a
few new Lispers, but I wasn't satisfied. There had to be a better way."
For the serious part that provides "an understanding of Lisp's nature"
through Java, XML and Ant:
http://www.defmacro.org/ramblings/lisp.html
PS: I don't know what kind of a specific ninjitsu style flameball Mr. Naggum
would throw at that mortal programmer but I think I can guess ;-)
Cheers,
--
Emre Sevinc
eMBA Software Developer Actively engaged in:
http://emba.bilgi.edu.tr http://ileriseviye.org
http://www.bilgi.edu.tr http://fazlamesai.net
Cognitive Science Student http://cazci.com
http://www.cogsci.boun.edu.tr
Emre Sevinc wrote:
> The funniest part of the article:
>
> "The enlightenment came instantaneously. One moment I understood nothing,
> and the next moment everything clicked into place. I've achieved nirvana.
> Dozens of times I heard Eric Raymond's statement quoted by different people:
> 'Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will
> have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer
> for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot.'
> I never understood this statement. I never believed it could be true. And
> finally, after all the pain, it made sense! There was more truth to it than I
> ever could have imagined. I've achieved an almost divine state of mind,
> an instantaneous enlightenment experience that turned my view of computer
> science on its head in less than a single second.
>
> That very second I became a member of the Lisp cult. I felt something a
> ninjitsu master must feel: I had to spread my newfound knowledge to at least
> ten lost souls in the course of my lifetime. I took the usual path. I was
> rehashing the same arguments that were given to me for years (only now they
> actually made sense!), hoping to convert unsuspecting bystanders. It didn't work.
> My persistence sparked a few people's interest but their curiosity dwindled at
> the mere sight of sample Lisp code. Perhaps years of advocacy would forge a
> few new Lispers, but I wasn't satisfied. There had to be a better way."
>
> For the serious part that provides "an understanding of Lisp's nature"
> through Java, XML and Ant:
>
> http://www.defmacro.org/ramblings/lisp.html
>
> PS: I don't know what kind of a specific ninjitsu style flameball Mr. Naggum
> would throw at that mortal programmer but I think I can guess ;-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Emre Sevinc
>
> eMBA Software Developer Actively engaged in:
> http://emba.bilgi.edu.tr http://ileriseviye.org
> http://www.bilgi.edu.tr http://fazlamesai.net
> Cognitive Science Student http://cazci.com
> http://www.cogsci.boun.edu.tr
So far I've experienced two lisp-related brain orgasms. The first, at
having read about recursion a dozen times or more, it came all of a
sudden and was quite pleasant. The second, was in part thanks to Forth,
at having appreciated the composition of functions. I hope I experience
more.