

Is JavaScript a Lisp in disguise? - mike_esspe
http://axisofeval.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-javascript-lisp-in-disguise.html

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kls
While the article is right in the basic summation JavaScript != Lisp I think
it is not entirely accurate to say that JavaScript did not borrow heavy from
lisp to create a simplified languadge that is more similar to Lisp than C. As
well JavaScript's object system borrowed and expanded on Lisp's collections
data structures. Whether one thinks it is a bad design or not JavaScript's
prototype inheritance is based of a hash table like structure that resembles
higher order collections. The designers intent with JavaScript was to make it
as simple as BASIC to pick up, but allow it to be somewhat powerful. While
they made some dreadful decisions along the way, they achieved their goals
which is a pretty good achievement. But to me, I see the fingerprint of a
stripped down Lisp more than I do say a stripped down C.

On a personal note, I think JavaScript and the browser's implementers decision
to make it an event based system has made the whole development of UI's very
elegant. I always likes UI systems that favored events and observers over
procedural controllers as such I think JavaScript is a fantastic languadge for
UI development.

I am still on the fence for back end business logic and infrastructure
projects. When given the choice, I would rather just use Clojure or Java as
opposed to JavaScript, there is no doubt about it that Lisp is a more powerful
languadge and given the choice I would use it over JavaScript, but in the UI,
JavaScript is powerful enough, yet easy enough for a designer to pick it up,
as such I think it is designed well for it's intended purpose. Even if I don't
agree with every design decision and even if it does not exactly resemble Lisp
in it's efforts to mimic some of the power of Lisp.

------
ryanbraganza
"It is something of a commonplace to say that JavaScript is a Lisp or Scheme
in disguise."

Has that really become common??

~~~
Auguste
I haven't noticed mentions of JavaScript specifically, but lately I've seen
quite a few claims that Perl 6/Python/Ruby are very similar to Lisp. I have no
idea as to the validity of those claim though - of those languages, I only
know Perl 5, and am currently learning Common Lisp.

