views:

831

answers:

11

Will Lisp ever become super popular?

A: 

No, I think it has passed its prime.

/Allan

Allan Wind
A: 

Not likely. It is really good at well, dealing with lists, but it isn't a complex enough language to become huge.

scunliffe
Your comment shows complete ignorance of Lisp.
Luís Oliveira
don't get me wrong, I love using lisp and have done tons with it, but I feel as others do, that it just doesn't quite have enough.
scunliffe
It think you don't have the faintest idea what you are talking about.
Levente Mészáros
ok, maybe I am missing something. Can someone point to some large, commercially successful full blown applications built in LISP? can be a desktop app or web app.
scunliffe
huh.... how about a window manager (sawfish)... airline ticketing systems (ITA)... Web shop builder (Yahoo stores)... hardware platforms (lisp machines)... an operating system (emacs)... there are more, but my patience is finite
dsm
Ratchet and Clank (popular video game), I believe.
Domingo Galdos
A: 

Is there a need for it to be? As long as a programming language satifies the needs for whatever niche it finds itself inhabiting, that programming language can have a long and fulfilling life.

dlanod
A: 

No

it won't let me post just the word no... but no, it won't

Jiaaro
A: 

Probably not. The major APIs are tied to other languages, and most CS grads are working primarily with Java.

That isn't to say that Lisp isn't useful. PLT Scheme lets you write functional programs that run on the current major operating systems. However, the tool set isn't there and there isn't much support from important organizations.

In short, unless Microsoft switches to Lisp from C#, or Apple from Objective-C, then no.

Steve Johnson
+1  A: 

http://www.flownet.com/gat/jpl-lisp.html?dupe=with_honor

Any sufficiently complicated C or Fortran program contains an ad hoc informally-specified bug-ridden slow implementation of half of Common Lisp. — Philip Greenspun's Tenth Rule of Programming

Popularity is in the eye of the beholder.

Pi
+7  A: 

Super popular? Totally!

In all seriousness, while Lisp itself may not be becoming more popular, there has been increasing interest in functional programming. Haskell, OCaml, F#, and other languages are seeing increased usage recently, not to mention the pushes for lambda expressions and closures in Java and C++. So while people may not be programming with parenthesis, the core concepts of Lisp are indeed becoming more popular.

I am a little disappointed that this topic has been closed. Though the question may have been brief and inarticulate, it nevertheless asks and interesting question.

Kyle Cronin
better vote for reopening than just being dissapointed !
Eli Bendersky
How do you vote to re-open a question?
Galghamon
You need over 3000 rep to vote questions open/closed.
Kyle Cronin
It is reopened now.
Spoike
+2  A: 

I personally love lisp, scheme in particular. However, I doubt it will ever go much beyond what it is today unless someone creates a lisp dialect with a CPAN style library system. Lack of robust libraries is a major disadvantage for lisp. It's possible that Paul Graham's Arc will revive interest in it, but I'm not very hopeful.

That said lisp will be around for along time. It is already 50 years old and has out lasted languages that came after it. It's specific domain, in my humble opinion, is academia. It is well suited to learning very quickly. The SICP Videos cover the language itself in about two lectures, and quickly move on to the stuff that really matters. As much as I hate to agree with ESR, even if you never use it for your job, learning lisp will make you a better programmer.

docgnome
I tried to make your link work.... dunno whats wrong with it, it just won't have it
dsm
I made the link work. ;)
Spoike
Got the link to work via a slightly different way of displaying links…
htw
@Spoike: Simultaneous edit, nice!
htw
Awesome! You guys rock! I was trying to fix it but it didn't like me :-(
docgnome
A: 

Yes, it definitely will! :-)

missingfaktor
+1  A: 

Will opera singers ever become super popular?

I mean, they are different from other singers. They have the theoretical musical background, and their music certainly was very popular several centuries ago, which was the base for many other styles of singers.

Nowadays, the pop singers are popular because they have commercial support from the big labels. It may be also a cultural thing: pop music is a no-brainer, while opera singers, and the orchestral music that often accompanies it, require some musical education to contemplate its beauty. Opera music is not likely to disappear, but rather will continue influencing other styles of music.

Now, will Lisp will ever become super popular?

Chubas
I dislike opera AND lisp. +1
ergosys
A: 

I think LISP itself in Scheme/Common Lisp/etc. not so much. However many features from LISP are finding their way into everyday languages. Closures, Lamda expressions, map/reduce, etc...

Also let's not forget JavaScript which is actually pretty LISPy. Mostly you think the language sucks because of the DOM, however recently I was forced to use it to code something not web related (using windows JScript). Actually the functions as first class objects and closures can lead to some very beautiful stuff.

Also XML is surprisingly LISP like in its structure. XML tags are an awful lot like more verbose parenthesis in LISP.

I think LISP itself probably is relegated to academic circles and artificial intelligence. But many ideas and concepts from LISP will find their way into our everyday programming languages.

Still I wouldn't mind being proven wrong. LISP is surprisingly efficient. Its performance profile seems better than most of the scripting languages on the programming language shootout at http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/.

Cervo