Why Lisp? (2015)
I started my programming in the more &quot;traditional&quot; way i.e., C&#x2F;C++ and then later python. When I started doing python, I was flabbergasted to find that I could just do 100**100 and get a complete number without using any additional libraries. Similarly, reversing string was trivial using the [::-1] notation. Heterogeneity of Lists, Dictionaries and the resulting versatility blew my mind. I now understand that I was discovering, at that time, what <i>dynamic language</i> had to offer over static languages.<p>I say all this because I would really like some great examples and use cases which would sort of highlight what LISP has to offer over the, for the lack of a better word, non-LISP languages. All of the articles that pop up in hacker news or other portals only seem to highlight the fact that LISP presents a new paradigm (?), enhances intuition (?), and that LISP macros are the best-thing ever. I would like to share the sentiment but ideally via a few digestible examples in lieu of a serious commitment required to basically learn an entire language. I would appreciate a few concrete examples (very much like [::-1] and 100**100) that would allow me to <i>get</i> what LISP really is about.