While I've heard a number of justifications for Lisp, based on feature A or B, to me the power of Lisp is pretty simple.
Essentially, lisp is the parse tree that all other programming languages convert their syntax into.
This means that all language features can be embedded as DSLs in Lisp using its macro system. No other language I know of can do this as conveniently as Lisp.
Essentially, lisp is the parse tree that all other programming languages convert their syntax into.
This means that all language features can be embedded as DSLs in Lisp using its macro system. No other language I know of can do this as conveniently as Lisp.