Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
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Subject: Re: Why do people like C? (Was: Comparison: Beta - Lisp)
References: <CxMpD2.525@rheged.dircon.co.uk> <782421305snz@wildcard.demon.co.uk> <TFB.94Oct19091202@burns.cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
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Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 16:42:14 +0000
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In article <TFB.94Oct19091202@burns.cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
           tfb@cogsci.ed.ac.uk "Tim Bradshaw" writes:

> I learnt CL from CLtL.  Until I got the ANSI document I don't think
> I'd read anything else that describes CL.  I had programmed in other
> Lisps (Cambridge Lisp, some DOS Lisps) before but I wasn't really
> fluent -- for instance I had lots of trouble with scope &c.  I didn't
> find it too hard to read, but I often learn things from reference
> books.  I did have access to an implementation, in fact to at least 2.

You have my sympathy, then! I wouldn't recommend that anyone learn
a language from a reference book. Mind you, I learned Basic from the
manual for the first machine I used. So I "learned" the language,
but knew little (practically nothing!) about programming. That was
well over 10 years ago. Today, you can still find books on programming
in bookshops, dispite the number of "I Hate XXX" type books.

Have you ever tried learning a language from a tutorial in a magazine?
I have, and I've tried implementing some, with disasterous results!
I can only blame myself for that.
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