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Why use lisp/scheme/arc rather than c# and Visual Studio on Windows?
2 points by geekiac on March 29, 2008 | hide | past | favorite | 6 comments
I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to the reasons for using lisp/scheme/arc rather than c#/ASP.NET in a Windows environment. I may need to be able to integrate with .NET or COM components and to access SQL Server databases. I also have requirements to create Windows Services (daemons). Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.



If you have to integrate with all that Windows stuff, you may be better off using Windows-native tools. On the other hand, that doesn't mean you have to use C#.

You might want to look into IronPython or IronScheme. You can use all the .Net libraries and Windows tools that let you integrate with all your checklist items cleanly, but you can use it from a more powerful dynamic language.


The reasons are the same as they usually are: with a higher-level language and more dynamic environment, programs are smaller, easier to write, and easier to change.

There are libraries for integrating Lisp programs with .NET and SQL. I'm not sure about Windows services, though. Check that first.

Are you asking as a programmer trying to make up your own mind or because you want to make a case to a manager or decision maker?


I have been developing in c# and ASP.NET for around 8 years and developing professionally for about 15 years. I have been looking into lisp/scheme and just wondered what other people thought. I have dabbled with python, ruby and smalltalk recently aswell, however people do seem to like this thing called lisp. I have been trying to work out what the fuss was all about. I want to be able to develop quickly and do find the Visual Studio environment and the .NET framework very helpful when you are looking for functions. However i get frustrated with how verbose the language is and I do miss the ability to modify the program at runtime which I was able to do back in my FoxPro days!!


I think it depends on temperament as well as on what kind of system you're trying to build. I could tell you why I love working in Lisp compared to C# - it makes building abstractions so natural and malleable that I feel like a fish swimming in water instead of glue - but it doesn't follow that your experience will be the same. All you can do is give it enough of a try to decide for youself.

I know lots of C# programmers who would much sooner give up abstractive power than the list of functions that pops up when they hit the "." key. Many are quite happy writing duplicate code as long as the IDE types half of it for them. They don't even notice the duplication. This is not the temperament that is likely to enjoy working in Lisp.

If, on the other hand, you feel that you increasingly have to fight with C#/ASP.NET/VS as your program grows more complex, or if you have a persistent nagging sense that it shouldn't have to be this hard, you might like Lisp.

Here's a suggestion. Whatever your project is, learn enough Lisp to program a basic first version of it. Resist the temptation to reject what's unfamiliar until it subsides (otherwise there's no point in the experiment). Then ask yourself which feels better.


8 years of C# and .NET?

IIRC it was introduced in 2001.

How many years of Java do you have? 20 or 25?


Ok my bad. When you get to my age your memory ain't so good!!!

Any advice on lisp/scheme?




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