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Discussion on: The best programming language for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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togakangaroo profile image
George Mauer • Edited

I'll point out that for decades many computer science departments would start students off with scheme - a LISP. I'm really not sure where you get that it's all that hard. The rules are far, far simpler than most other languages and so is the programming model. I can teach someone the basics in 15 minutes. Of course advanced use takes longer to master, but is mastering metaprogramming in Python quick?

Yes, there is a dearth of jobs and fewer modern libraries, that is worth considering. But do any of those jobs disallow the use of lisp where appropriate? And there is over half a century of stuff, more than twice as long as anything else in the list.

You are right that lisp's focus on ai is different. It does not focus on statistics and analysis or mass data processing. The focus is on writing programs that can modify themselves and grow. That is actually far more interesting, is it not?

The language lost popularity in the ai winter as the tech was too slow to support the fantastic things people were trying to do at the time. But we've got much faster hardware now. Personally, I would love to see it make a resurgence. (And racket is awesome)

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drdougtheman profile image
drdougtheman

"It does not focus on statistics and analysis or mass data processing" please show an example, I'm curious

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togakangaroo profile image
George Mauer

Please show an example of lisp languages not focusing on that stuff? I'm not sure that's how examples work 😉

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andrewflee profile image
Andrew

Lisp’s age is not its appeal. Don’t forget lest someone suggest FORTRAN.