lisp's syntax is simple - its just parenthesis to define a list, first element of a list is executed as a function.
but for example a language like C has many different syntaxes for different operations, like function declaration or variable or array syntax, or if/switch-case etc etc.
so to know C syntax you need to learn all these different ways to do different things, but in lisp you just need to know how to match parenthesis.
But of course you still want to declare variables, or have if/else and switch case. So you instead need to learn the builtin macros (what GP means by semantics) and their "syntax" that is technically not part of the language's syntax but actually is since you still need all those operations enough that they are included in the standard library and defining your own is frowned upon.
Lisp has way more syntax, that doesn't cover any of the special forms. Knowing about application syntax doesn't help with understanding `let` syntax. Even worse, with macros, the amount of syntax is open-ended. That they all come in the form of S-expressions doesn't help a lot in learning them.
Most languages' abstract machines expose a very simple API, it's up to the language to add useful constructs to help us write code more efficiently. Languages like Lisp start with a very simple syntax, then add those constructs with the language itself (even though those can be fixed using a standard), others just add it through the syntax. These constructs plus the abstract machine's operations form the semantics, syntax is however the language designer decided to present them.
SuperCuber|1 year ago
but for example a language like C has many different syntaxes for different operations, like function declaration or variable or array syntax, or if/switch-case etc etc.
so to know C syntax you need to learn all these different ways to do different things, but in lisp you just need to know how to match parenthesis.
But of course you still want to declare variables, or have if/else and switch case. So you instead need to learn the builtin macros (what GP means by semantics) and their "syntax" that is technically not part of the language's syntax but actually is since you still need all those operations enough that they are included in the standard library and defining your own is frowned upon.
kryptiskt|1 year ago
skydhash|1 year ago