Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GreenspunsTenthRuleOfProgramming

"Any sufficiently complicated C or Fortran program contains an ad-hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of half of CommonLisp"



But at least, unlike CommonLisp, chances are it is actually used by someone.


Are there any good real-world examples for this?


It's a similar observation to the Inner Platform Effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner-platform_effect

Any project that runs some sort of external script would count. Soon a config file has some sort of conditional (#define grows #ifdef) and variables.

Also any project that has a VM (in the traditional sense) such as SCUMM.

It incorporates the notion that Lisp will do everything already, the code as data as code that Lisp gives you is a win that coders dismiss until it's too late and they have spent years learning C++


The browser.


Well, it's pretty formally specified now. (Also pretty fast.)


It's kinda sorta specified in English prose. I wouldn't call that formal, though.


Emacs? ;)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: