Jason Foreman wrote:
Recently I picked up Practical Common Lisp, and so far it is about the best programming book I have ever read.
I don't know if I'd go THAT far.... but it's close. To me, Starting FORTH and Thinking FORTH are pretty close :-)
This is my first real exposure to Lisp; by day I am stuck working in Java and loathing every minute of it.
Funny - Java is one I've been trying recently to pick up :-) However, I've been struggling to gain full-fledged expertise in LISP since 1981 or so.... The idea of lower-case LISP, and the use of FIRST SECOND THIRD et al took some time to get used to :-) I find that LISP and FORTH have a LOT in common - LISP has macros, FORTH has CREATE ... DOES> ...; LISP and FORTH both operate with bottom-up design and what I call "micro-procedures" (FORTH has words, LISP has functions). Both are beautiful to the artist. The one drawback I find is that a lot of LISP is centered on AI; a recent LISP project was to interface with a PostgreSQL database containing a list of RPMs on systems and report differences and similarities in different ways - not at all related to AI in the least. Paul Graham, likewise, reports a significant use for him was the creation of a electronic storefront - also not related to AI in the least. I've also played with myLisp on the Palm; anyone have anything to relate about their use of this tool?