Idea : Timeline of Lisp history.

[Mayank Jain]

Hi.

I wanted to discuss the idea of implementing a web site which showcases the history of lisp as a Timeline. This includes not only various dialects of lisp but also various landmarks which directly or indirectly affected lisp.

I just started reading about history of lisp and I am realizing how deep the rabbit hole might be.

Was wondering if this is a valid idea to submit? How will such project be validated since its more of a research. The final Timeline may or may not be a site. So that's something not yet decided.

There will be a lot of reading that needs to be done. Since I am new to lisp history.

Any links that you think would be of help please let me know. Right now I am going through McCarthy's history of lisp and papers shared by Paul Graham on his site. Any pointers or suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

[Heow Goodman]

Hey Mayank,

Although I do think Lisp History is a worthwhile endeavor, it would not
make a good Lisp in Summer Project. If you'd like to do serious
documentation, you should consider documenting software or websites with
outreach and education as their goal.

No doubt several books can be written about the rich history of Lisp,
but the history of lisp is in a way the history of computation. It
actually might be easier to write a history of NOT lisp:

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ProgrammingConceptsNotPioneeredByLisp

Those who do not understand Lisp are doomed to reimplement it, poorly:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenspun%27s_tenth_rule

- h

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[Kris Jenkins]

Hi,

Might I humbly mention my own talk on the History of Lisp:

  http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/java-jee/a-walking-tour-of-clojures-history-4031

As Heow says, Lisp has a rich history, and I walk but a single path in the forest of interesting Lispy things. Nevertheless, it's a fun path to walk.

And Guy Steele's The Evolution of Lisp is a great sequel to McCarthy's essay:

  http://extravagaria.com/Files/HOPL2-Uncut.pdf

Cheers,

Kris

[Bastien]

Hi Mayank,

Mayank Jain <fires...@gmail.com> writes:

> I just started reading about history of lisp and I am realizing how
> deep the rabbit hole might be.

Indeed!

I plan to read Guy Steel's paper carefully and I will take my notes
on this git repository:

https://github.com/bzg/lispstory

I would love to see people fork and/or submit pull requests.
This for sure is *not* a website with eye-candy and navigation
through history, but it will contain reusable milestones that
may help in the process of building a website.

Best,

--
Bastien