Aha! moments in Lisp... What were your 'Aha moments' in your favorite language?(groups.google.com)
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Aha! moments in Lisp... What were your 'Aha moments' in your favorite language?
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/browse_thread/thread/a12b2503c989761a/c5318848c215296f#c5318848c215296f
3 comments
You get a similar feeling with Javascript by reading the source code of libraries like prototype.js or jQuery. Lots of "Wait, you can do that in Javascript?!?" moments.
Python:
- the first time I concisely solved a seemingly complex problem with a few list comprehensions and a well thought out structure of maps and lists
C: - Using an include file as a simple database and redefining a macro to form a primitive code generator (first saw this in a CPU simulator)
Haskell: - SPJ's books on implementing functional languages -- the simple beginning pieces seemed to generate more Aha moments (pretty printing and parsing)
While none of these are specific to the given language, they represent points-of-no-return for a change in the way I think about solving (or even representing) problems.
C: - Using an include file as a simple database and redefining a macro to form a primitive code generator (first saw this in a CPU simulator)
Haskell: - SPJ's books on implementing functional languages -- the simple beginning pieces seemed to generate more Aha moments (pretty printing and parsing)
While none of these are specific to the given language, they represent points-of-no-return for a change in the way I think about solving (or even representing) problems.
My Aha moment was the first time I saw one program produce output which was the source code of a new program. Today we call that "code generation". Back then, I called it "the day everything changed". To this day, whenever I write something, I ask myself, "What could have generated that?"
Works well in any language.
Works well in any language.