Python vs Lisp: was RE: how to pass the name of a variable as argument?

well, as has been pointed out before, you can always write a maxima
top-level with a different syntax.

A study pro/con of python vs. the Algol-60-ish top-level language might be
appropriate.
Given the examples of Maple, Mathematica, Axiom, Matlab, Mupad, Mathcad, ...
it might make a worthwhile study to contrast them all and try to find either
a consensus or a new superior design.  

 It seems to me that the main strength of python is the number of libraries
(written in C?) that can be easily called
from python. If this kind of access can be managed with the Maxima-python
top level, then I suspect the same technique could be used to link the
Maxima-Algol-60 top level to python libraries.  While it is not exactly
equivalent, I think I have pointed out that I loaded the MPFR
(multi-precision float/real) package into Lisp by loading the python
library, so it is not implausible.  But are there other arguments?

The original design of the Maxima language was supposed to be aimed at users
of mathematics, not programmers.

Originally, it seems almost inconceivable that non-trivial programs would be
written in that Algol syntax.
the PDP-6 had 1.2megabytes of memory, and a cycle time of 1 MHz or so.  Over
1,000 times slower. 

given all this, a better design might come up.





> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Dodier [mailto:robert.dodier at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 9:09 AM
> To: fateman at EECS.Berkeley.EDU
> Cc: Stavros Macrakis; maxima at math.utexas.edu; Raymond Toy (RT/EUS)
> Subject: Re: [Maxima] Python vs Lisp: was RE: how to pass the 
> name of a variable as argument?
> 
> On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 9:12 AM, Richard Fateman
> <fateman at cs.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> 
> > See
> >  http://norvig.com/python-lisp.html
> >  which may be a little dated, but perhaps Python advocates 
> can comment.
> 
> I'm not proposing to replace Lisp, but rather the Maxima user 
> language.
> We can keep all the stuff written in Lisp, and put another 
> user language
> on top of it.
> 
> Robert Dodier
>