I find the same thing with databases. So many people have their minds
stuck in the 2-D relational world, and just cannot grasp the concept
of a multi-dimensional database like Pick. Given that Pick is very
much list-based (unlike SQL which is set-based), why can't I grasp a
list-based language like Scheme? And Pick is very XML-like!
Because Scheme (like all LISP variants) does not even have a programming
language. It has a clever way to write down parse trees as a
computer-readable data structure, bypassing the step of coding in a
programming language. That makes it brilliant for structure-preserving
program manipulation and AI.
Thanks - I'll look up and understand what it does. The only snag is
that I've got 2.18.2, which doesn't like your code. That's the latest
on SuSE, and my gentoo system (which I daren't upgrade at the moment)
is even older - 2.15.12
2.15.12 is stupid: that's an early version in the unstable 2.15 branch.
If your distribution lets you down, you might try installing a binary
from our download page.