--- Richard Fateman wrote:
> I remember looking at some of this clever code in horror. In
> the Franz Lisp version of macsyma (vaxima?) we just rewrote the
> maclisp construct in "more modern" lisp, at least some times.
> But the "more modern" lisp was not necessarily Common Lisp, and
> when it appeared that Bill's code worked well enough on Common
> Lisp, the impetus to "clean it up" kind of vanishes.
Except that for future maintainability, weird stuff like this is an
excellent way to turn people off. Plus, if you and Stavros disagree
about what defprop does, to me that's a DEFINITE indication something
needs clarification. ;-)
> Not being a goober, exactly. There is however, a common
> maxim: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
I contend that if something isn't maintainable or at the very least
well explained it IS broken, at least in the long term. Unfixable (or
very difficult to fix) is not a good situation.
Cheers,
CY
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