Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:00:07 GMT
In Dec 08th, 1994, Ansi Common Lisp was standardized. That means, today, it is its 18th birthday. From that age on, in many countries, you have more rights and also more duties.
The first right you usually get is to vote. What would Common Lisp vote? Politics is complicated, and there is so much to choose, while Common Lisp does not like choosing, rather supporting everything. Not sure what it would vote. It is probably compatible with everything.
Furthermore, at that age you will be sui juris. You can do everything, but you are also responsible for everything you do. Common Lisp has its own ways of dealing with things, some of them are still unique, and many of them were unique for a long time. Meanwhile, there evolved other, younger languages like Ruby with similar concepts, which are more widespread. Common Lisp pays the prize of being beyond its time, at a time when Windows 95 was new.
Also, the society's duty for your protection rapidly decreases. Not only are you responsible for everything you do, but also, there are less people willing to encourage you in continuing to find yourself - you have had enough time for that. The people begin to demand you to actually achieve valuable things, that is, either things that are economically or socially valuable, or things that show that you will become economically or socially valuable. I think that Common Lisp has done this already: It provided expierience with concepts that combined academical and practical principles of programming. Maybe its glorious days are gone, but it is still an interesting language to use and to learn from.
In Germany, you have to pay fees every quarter of a year you go to a doctor. That is, when you have a medical problem, you lose additional money. Well, it seems like Common Lisp does not really use any health insurance anyway. There are several little diseases Common Lisp has, but for which there was never enough money to heal them. I am afraid that there is and will not be enough money to heal these diseases. But hopefully, the usual practices and implementations will have a self-healing effect.
Also, you can have a drivers' license when you are 18. I am not sure how successful Common Lisp is at driving cars. But as far as I heard, it has lost much of its importance for AI and robotics. I am not sure whether Common Lisp will ever drive a car. But if so, it would be awesome!
The first right you usually get is to vote. What would Common Lisp vote? Politics is complicated, and there is so much to choose, while Common Lisp does not like choosing, rather supporting everything. Not sure what it would vote. It is probably compatible with everything.
Furthermore, at that age you will be sui juris. You can do everything, but you are also responsible for everything you do. Common Lisp has its own ways of dealing with things, some of them are still unique, and many of them were unique for a long time. Meanwhile, there evolved other, younger languages like Ruby with similar concepts, which are more widespread. Common Lisp pays the prize of being beyond its time, at a time when Windows 95 was new.
Also, the society's duty for your protection rapidly decreases. Not only are you responsible for everything you do, but also, there are less people willing to encourage you in continuing to find yourself - you have had enough time for that. The people begin to demand you to actually achieve valuable things, that is, either things that are economically or socially valuable, or things that show that you will become economically or socially valuable. I think that Common Lisp has done this already: It provided expierience with concepts that combined academical and practical principles of programming. Maybe its glorious days are gone, but it is still an interesting language to use and to learn from.
In Germany, you have to pay fees every quarter of a year you go to a doctor. That is, when you have a medical problem, you lose additional money. Well, it seems like Common Lisp does not really use any health insurance anyway. There are several little diseases Common Lisp has, but for which there was never enough money to heal them. I am afraid that there is and will not be enough money to heal these diseases. But hopefully, the usual practices and implementations will have a self-healing effect.
Also, you can have a drivers' license when you are 18. I am not sure how successful Common Lisp is at driving cars. But as far as I heard, it has lost much of its importance for AI and robotics. I am not sure whether Common Lisp will ever drive a car. But if so, it would be awesome!