Ask HN: Production Lisp in 2020?
I think Reddit's decision to move from Common Lisp to Python is interesting and their reasoning (ecosystem) is still valid 15 years later.The historical timeline is especially interesting because Reddit's cofounders Steve Huffman & Aaron Swartz were alumni of Paul Graham's first YC batch and PG is the author of the well-known Lisp essay "Beating the Averages":- 2001-04 Paul Graham : Lisp essay "Beating the Averages" [1]- 2005-07-26  Paul Graham :  https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.lang.lisp/vJmLV...- 2005-12-05  Steve Huffman :  https://redditblog.com/2005/12/05/on-lisp/- 2005-12-06  Aaron Schwartz :  http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rewritingredditThe takeaway from the Reddit case study is this:  Yes Lisp macros and language malleability gives it superpowers that other languages don't have (the "Blub Paradox") -- but other languages also have other superpowers (ecosystem/libraries) that can cancel out the power of Lisp macros.You have to analyze your personal project to predict if the ecosystem matters more than Lisp's elegant syntax powers.[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html