Re: What's missing in ELisp that makes people want to use cl-lib?

[Po Lu]

Dmitry Gutov <dmitry@gutov.dev> writes:

> I don't have the corresponding high-level implementation to compare
> to, but the main thing about the code you posted, is that one has to,
> basically, read every line (of which there are ~70) to understand what
> the function is doing and/or to find any irregularities in its
> implementation (e.g. when looking for a bug).

By contrast, in the archetypal cl-lib user, one must read every line,
the doc strings of every cl-lib function it calls, and the several lines
adjacent to each place where it is called.  To speak nothing of cl-lib
macros which recast a form's control flow into unrecognizability.

> A high-level approach is to use a set of agreed-upon abstractions
> (functional programming in general, across languages, has a basic set,
> but there can be additions) to write programs shorter.

In this respect functional programming can be likened to poetry--after
writing a witty, caustic epigram inveighing against some perceived
iniquity, a poet is always very pleased with himself.  But should he
apply his manner of writing to communication with real people, as by
speaking in epigrams before a clerk at an unemployment office, it is
likely he will starve.