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Why Arc when we have newLISP?
4 points by Forrest 6141 days ago | 9 comments
And newLISP already has a lot of features such as Unicode support and interfaces to Java graphics and C libraries that Arc lacks.


2 points by pg 6140 days ago | link

Is the evolution of programming languages complete? If so, then yes, we don't need to create new ones. But if not (and this seems much more likely), then we should.

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2 points by Forrest 6140 days ago | link

I certainly am not arguing against new programming languages. Let a thousand flowers bloom! I'm just trying to see what this one offers that newLISP doesn't.

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1 point by Zak 6141 days ago | link

Is this a troll or a serious question? The short answer is that they're not intended for the same purpose, and newLISP has several characteristics that most Lisp users consider to be mistakes.

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1 point by apgwoz 6141 days ago | link

I'm willing to bet that many Lisp users will find characteristics of Arc to be mistakes too. Unhygienic macros is the obvious one from the Schemers prospective.

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2 points by randallsquared 6140 days ago | link

I don't believe newLISP has real lexical scoping, which is far more fundamental than support for Unicode.

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1 point by Forrest 6140 days ago | link

So what? NewLISP's contexts are certainly real enough if you have to have it. Frankly I don't find lexical scoping all that necessary as I keep my functions and parameter lists short and sweet and never have any particular problem debugging my programs. If I absolutely need a lexical closure on variables I just use a newLISP context.

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2 points by randallsquared 6140 days ago | link

Great. I hope you continue to do well.

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1 point by Forrest 6140 days ago | link

Why is it a troll or why should I be pissed? I like and use newLISP and am puzzled by Arc. What exactly does Arc do that newLISP doesn't do already?

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1 point by lucraft 6141 days ago | link

Yeah, I bet the newLISP guy is pissed.

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