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Hofstadter on Lisp (1983)

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372 points Eric_WVGG | 1 comments | 16 Oct 24 13:44 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source
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AnimalMuppet ◴[16 Oct 24 15:21 UTC] No.41860160[source]▶
> Every computer language has arbitrary features, and most languages are in fact overloaded with them. A few, however, such as Lisp and Algol, are built around a kernel that seems as natural as a branch of mathematics.

Algol? The kernel of Algol seems as natural as a branch of mathematics? Can anyone who has used Algol give their opinion of this statement?

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1. gavindean90 ◴[16 Oct 24 17:00 UTC] No.41861307[source]▶
From what I’ve studied, Algol wasn’t designed for typical software development—its main purpose was to give computer scientists a way to describe algorithms with a level of rigor that mirrors mathematical notation.