Calculating, Scheming, and Paul Graham
Calculating, Scheming, and Paul Graham I came across [this paper] recently, and it challenged some of the thoughts/assumptions that had been building in my mind for a while (it discusses Scheme vs Mi…
Micro
119 posts
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Having to reimplement basic functionality is not as illuminating as reading and understanding a professional programmer’s implementation of it – “learn by doing” is good for muscular training. Progra…
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I agree that Common Lisp a very powerful language, but I can’t live with all that power uncontrollably thrown on me. Common Lisp grossly lacks self-discipline and self-limitation when it’s needed. ht…
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The difference between a hobbyist and a professional programmer should have been accountability. The difference today is whether he gets paid. http://xach.com/naggum/articles/3224708561252229@naggum…
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nothingspookI really wonder why XML does not.…
The "trinity of computation"
The “trinity of computation” I never thought of it this way Logic tells us what propositions exist (what sorts of thoughts we wish to express) and what constitutes a proof (how we can communicate o…
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Macros are a simple mechanism for generating code, in other words, automating programming. Unless your system includes a better mechanism for automating programming (so far, I have not seen any such m…
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Most computers today, for all of their potential speed, are largely a mistake, based on the provenly unscalable Von Neumann architecture, controlled with one of the most shortsighted languages of all…
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… an important point here about what a program is. Does it cause action by subjecting a static machine that otherwise does nothing to a list of instructions, or is it static data that is accepting by…
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Above all the wonders of Lisp’s pantheon stand its metalinguistic tools; by their grace have Lisp’s acolytes been liberated from the rigid asceticism of lesser faiths. Thanks to Macro and kin, the jol…
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I have briefly looked at Arc. It is yet another demonstration of the problem of too strong an ego that cannot live with what somebody else has made. Be it the standard conditionals, nil versus false…
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A common analogy for a resistor is a pipe that carries water. The water itself is analogous to electrical charge, the pressure at the input of the pipe is similar to voltage, and the rate of flow of t…