First, let me preface: Lisp is one of the most beautiful programming languages. It is the Latin of programming; the core from which many languages today are now derived.
Yet one who appreciates Latin does it with a quiet grace, in a private study, reciting Cicero and wondering about the Empire. You do not walk out of your study to strike up a sermo. The Latin professor may grade your exam but won’t throw a Quid agis? without a sly smile, knowing full well the impracticality of such things.
But not entirely impractical! The Roman church even today works in Latin. There is a time and place for Latin! And yes, if it’s a part of your ideal to revive Latin, then by all means.
But I have no such desire for the Latin of Programming. Because I believe technology is enough as is. I’m not prepared to be trapped within digital museums, to be stuck in strange forests.
There is a time and place for Lisp, I assure you. It’s just a rare find. And I’m not abandoning my private studies either. Still, one must be careful in the ideals one chooses. There is no point to having the perfect tool if you rarely summon anything with it.
The title of this post comes from some corporate self-help book of some sort, but the fact still rings true. A .Scout Mindset. is one who is willing to continually see reality as it is, to see whether or not they’ve been deluded.
And so I believe I’ve been a bit deluded when it comes to Lisp. If I had to choose between making something cool and knowing advanced Lisp Macros (although some may chime in they’re one and the same conclusion) I will choose the former.
There’s nothing wrong with grabbing the latest framework to build something. There’s nothing wrong with it at all. Lisp is too powerful for a simple web server. Why reinvent? I may have originally protest, .Because I don’t want to be subjugated to other peoples decisions!. but I think this is an inevitability if you want to enact change unto the world. Lisp is the perfect language to use if you’re on your own, or if you have a strict style guide and everyone else is adhering to it. But most people don’t know lisp. You’re on your own for better or for worse. And unfortunately, because of this, there’s rarely anything else to be said about it other than to look at it in awe.
I’m still torn, to be honest. I have some ideas I want to work on, but I’m stuck with a difficult decision: Are you working on the idea, or are you working on the perfect implementation of the idea? These are different objectives.
So this is my current stance on things. In spirit of the .Scout Mindset. I will continue to scout out Lisp. But I will not let it get in the way of making stuff. For now, as I think things through, I’m putting my lisp quest on hiatus.