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John McCarthy, Discoverer of Lisp, Has Passed Away

Posted by Unknown on Tuesday October 25, 2011 @12:07AM from the lisp-proven-not-to-be-key-of-eternal-life dept.

The first of a few submitters, szo sent in an early report that John McCarthy passed early yesterday. Paul Graham (among others) confirmed: the news was true. And so, shortly after a fellow founder of countless language descendants, goes the founder of the Lisp tree at the age of 84.

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Discoverer or Lisp? by agentgonzo · 2011-10-25 00:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

I think you mean creator or inventor. It's not like the Lisp programming language was just sat out in the wilds of Chile under a rock waiting to be found by an archaeologist.
1. Re:Discoverer or Lisp? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2011-10-25 00:38 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Arguably math consists of both invention and discovery:
  
  You invent the axioms; but you then discover the necessary implications of those axioms.
Re:let this be a lesson to you by Anonymous Coward · 2011-10-25 00:43 · Score: 3, Insightful

lisp will reduce your life expectancy.
Nothing will reduce your life expectancy more than doing template metaprogramming in c++.
LISP is the king of all computer languages. Its influence is still being felt 50 years after its creation, and people are rediscovering features that good ol' lisp has had since the begining.