Path: text.usenetserver.com!out02a.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!in02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!cycny01.gnilink.net!spamkiller2.gnilink.net!gnilink.net!trndny07.POSTED!3abab865!not-for-mail From: "David Cressey" Newsgroups: comp.databases.theory References: <5GAji.92223$1i1.68633@pd7urf3no> Subject: Re: A Simple Notation Lines: 25 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1478 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1478 Message-ID: Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:04:41 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 72.79.238.55 X-Complaints-To: abuse@verizon.net X-Trace: trndny07 1183784681 72.79.238.55 (Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:04:41 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:04:41 EDT Xref: usenetserver.com comp.databases.theory:165680 X-Received-Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:04:42 EDT (text.usenetserver.com) "paul c" wrote in message news:5GAji.92223$1i1.68633@pd7urf3no... > David Cressey wrote: > ... > > Lisp is my favorite language that I'm not proficient in. But I understand > > the data structures of Lisp better than those of many other languages. > > That's only because there is so little to understand and so much value in > > understanding it! > > I think the writing in the Sussman et al SICP might reflect that > mentality, If I think a little like Sussman, it's not entirely accidental. I collaborated with Sussman and three others in the development of MDL, the programming language, back in 1971. While I never became a truly proficient MDL programmer, I did write a prototype dynamic loader for MDL in MDL. It only took about 2 pages of code. My role in MDL would have given me an understanding of the data structures more than of the workings of the rest of the language.