Tim Pierce: Yeah, I think even the first spec of Common Lisp in 1984 supported structs and hash tables. Lisp has always been very twee about its affection for lists but I don’t think it’s tried to overstuff that metaphor.

Beware the beautiful abstractions that subtly replace the requirements of the software with their own preservation

(I’m not subskeeting anybody, this is self reflection)

Do have an example (even an invented one)? This is not something I've come across, but maybe I didn't notice it.

Almost any time you say “Everything is a _” you’re in danger territory. “Everything is a list” or “a tree” or “a stream” tends to lead to a lot of work spent preserving that idea

I think in Lisp everything is literally a list.

Pure Lisp, not sure that still exists except on some really old interpreters.

Yeah, I think even the first spec of Common Lisp in 1984 supported structs and hash tables. Lisp has always been very twee about its affection for lists but I don’t think it’s tried to overstuff that metaphor.

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