Re: How to improve the readability of (any) LISP or any highlevel functional language to the level of FORTH ?

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

() girosenth <girosenth@india.com>
() Sat, 1 Jan 2011 14:50:52 -0800 (PST)

   In comparison to prefix, postfix seems in the order of the action.
   Certainly, it starts with the center object moved to the left most.

In another response, someone suggested reading/writing down.
Introducing another dimension is a good start.  It's only a
start, however, because it is visible to the programmer and
not to the computer; inserting error-checking or state-stashing
into the mix, while travelling "in to out" (now "down to up")
is still problematical.  Imagine an art gallery constructed
only of staircases -- easy to trip, hard to enjoy the paintings
on the walls.  (But very straightforward for Hurrying Up.)

So the way forward is to add landings:
you climb, you gawk, you climb some more.

In Emacs Lisp, the landings are made using ‘flet’.
In Scheme, the landings are made from internal procedures.

Build your programs with enough landings and you may find
yourself keeping company with fewer firefighters and more
art snobs.  That's the risk you take being an architect.