You'd be surprised how seemingly simple things can be hard for some. As an example, it's extraordinarily difficult for some HN users to read beyond the title and try to understand the reasoning behind it, so they instead settle for showcasing their intellectual prowess by answering the question outright as if that was the thesis. It's a very smart strategy, I must say.
Feels good to find a perfect opportunity to be witty and snarky, yeah? Well, allow me to murder this vibe of yours. Titles do exist for a reason. This article's title specifically, assumes too much. It's nearly click-baity. Imagine a title like "Why does the Holocaust feel like a hoax?", and then it goes into intricate detail to prove it isn't. Some people still get triggered by the title alone.
That went to Nazism real fast. But the thing is, most people don't think the Holocaust is a hoax (I think), whereas most people do think Lisp is difficult to read.
There have been lots of attempts to "improve" Lisp over the years (starting from the very earliest days) that assumed the primary thing holding it back was the syntax. All went nowhere, since that assumption is false. If you spend enough time to become familiar with the language (which you have to do with any new language) the syntax becomes a non-problem, and arguably something beneficial.
Thank you. Perfectly proves my point. "Some people still get triggered by the title alone."
> most people do think Lisp is difficult to read
Correction. Most people unfamiliar with Lisp think that. I've been using Lisp for over a decade, I went to conferences, organized meetups, used Lisp for work and for personal projects, I met many experienced Lispers and I have mentored complete newbies. Not even once have I met someone in person who actively practiced writing and reading Lisp and ever complained about its readability.
What makes Ramayana difficult to read? Sanskrit - you need to learn darn language. What makes Quran difficult to read? Arabic - you need to learn darn language. What makes Lisp... the language, you need to learn the darn language. That's all you ever need to do. And you have to do it once, never twice, never repeatedly. Do it once in your life and that's it. It suddenly becomes not so difficult to read. Just learn the fucking language. Why the fuck complain about anything without first learning the darn thing?
Most people don't know jack squat about first and second laws of thermodynamics. Yet I don't see articles of kind: "why physics is so difficult to grok" or shit like that. They don't complain about it, because everyone, even ten year olds understand - any shit feels difficult until you learn that shit.
So what's your point? Physics is hard for those who don't know it? Butter is buttery, water makes things wet?
Any language is difficult at first. Nobody ever comes to any PL, opens random piece of code and goes like: "yup, I understand everything". It is called "code" for a reason, it's not "revelation", it takes some effort to grok it.
pfdietz · · focus · HN ↗
This feels like someone who doesn't know French asking "what makes French difficult to read?"
caaqil · · focus · HN ↗
You'd be surprised how seemingly simple things can be hard for some. As an example, it's extraordinarily difficult for some HN users to read beyond the title and try to understand the reasoning behind it, so they instead settle for showcasing their intellectual prowess by answering the question outright as if that was the thesis. It's a very smart strategy, I must say.
iLemming · · focus · HN ↗
Feels good to find a perfect opportunity to be witty and snarky, yeah? Well, allow me to murder this vibe of yours. Titles do exist for a reason. This article's title specifically, assumes too much. It's nearly click-baity. Imagine a title like "Why does the Holocaust feel like a hoax?", and then it goes into intricate detail to prove it isn't. Some people still get triggered by the title alone.
Neywiny · · focus · HN ↗
pfdietz · · focus · HN ↗
iLemming · · focus · HN ↗
Thank you. Perfectly proves my point. "Some people still get triggered by the title alone."
> most people do think Lisp is difficult to read
Correction. Most people unfamiliar with Lisp think that. I've been using Lisp for over a decade, I went to conferences, organized meetups, used Lisp for work and for personal projects, I met many experienced Lispers and I have mentored complete newbies. Not even once have I met someone in person who actively practiced writing and reading Lisp and ever complained about its readability.
What makes Ramayana difficult to read? Sanskrit - you need to learn darn language. What makes Quran difficult to read? Arabic - you need to learn darn language. What makes Lisp... the language, you need to learn the darn language. That's all you ever need to do. And you have to do it once, never twice, never repeatedly. Do it once in your life and that's it. It suddenly becomes not so difficult to read. Just learn the fucking language. Why the fuck complain about anything without first learning the darn thing?
Neywiny · · focus · HN ↗
iLemming · · focus · HN ↗
Neywiny · · focus · HN ↗
iLemming · · focus · HN ↗
Any language is difficult at first. Nobody ever comes to any PL, opens random piece of code and goes like: "yup, I understand everything". It is called "code" for a reason, it's not "revelation", it takes some effort to grok it.