I think the thing about lisp isn&#x27;t the fact that it&#x27;s functions start with a paren.  It&#x27;s the fact it uses function composition to write everything that makes it harder to keep track of.  Most languages don&#x27;t define their functions like this:<p><pre><code>  c = sqrt(a^2+b^2)
  vs.
  define(c, sqrt(sum(sqr(a),sqr(b))))

  def getMaxValue(numbers):
		answer = numbers.first()
		for (i in xrange(numbers.length)):
			if (numbers[i] &gt; answer):
				answer = numbers[i]
		return answer

  vs.
  (defun get-max-value (list)
	  (let ((answer (first list)))
	    (do ((i 1 (1+ i)))
	        ((&gt;= i (length list)) answer)
	      (when (&gt; (nth i list) answer)
	        (setf answer (nth i list))))))

  if you could only use python functions:
  defun(get-max-value, [list], 
		let(answer,first(list)),
		 do( (i,1,(1+ i)), 
		 	(&gt;=(i, length(list)), ans), 
		 when( &gt;(nth(i,list),answer), 
		 	setf(answer,nth(i,list)))))

  defun(get-max-value, [list], let(answer,first(list)), do( (i,1,(1+ i)), (&gt;=(i, length(list)), ans), when( &gt;(nth(i,list),answer), setf(answer,nth(i,list)))))</code></pre>