> - at least, I’ve never heard anybody say that Lisp is both easy to use and easy learn.
I will say it.
Lisp has been used for introductory programming courses in the past, with much success. Beginners take to it just as well, or better, than other more popular languages.
"This book is about learning to program in Lisp. Although widely known as the principal language of artificial intelligence research—one of the most advanced areas of computer science—Lisp is an excellent language for beginners. It is increasingly the language of choice in introductory programming courses due to its friendly, interactive environment, rich data structures, and powerful software tools that even a novice can master in short order"
"Although widely known as the principal language of artificial intelligence research—one of the most advanced areas of computer science—Lisp is an excellent language for beginners."
Ironically it's been supplanted by Python in that role now.
I wonder if Guido had looked at Common Lisp and built his Python from a simplified form of Common Lisp/Scheme with infix syntax but with multi-line-lambdas, optional return values, CLOS, and edit-and-continue, and fast compilers from the start... We shoould root for Julia - it can drag the Python and Lisp people together. Also what ever happened to Dylan?
I will say it.
Lisp has been used for introductory programming courses in the past, with much success. Beginners take to it just as well, or better, than other more popular languages.
For example:
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/LispBook/book.pdf
"This book is about learning to program in Lisp. Although widely known as the principal language of artificial intelligence research—one of the most advanced areas of computer science—Lisp is an excellent language for beginners. It is increasingly the language of choice in introductory programming courses due to its friendly, interactive environment, rich data structures, and powerful software tools that even a novice can master in short order"