Lisp, The Quantum Programmer's Choice - Computerphile 

When I first encountered LISP back in my undergrad days the prof described it as an interesting language where you can write interesting programs that do interesting things.

I wish that this video would *show* how Lisp is a good language, rather than just saying it can do this, that, and the other thing.

Of the variety of languages I've learned over the last 40 years, Lisp is the only one that spoke to me.

This is a sermon singing the praises of Lisp, but providing little beyond 'Lisp is great!'. If you want to know more about the actual details of the language, consult another video.

/examples/

Like with many Computerphile videos, I just can't appreciate why this topic is important without concrete examples. Glad to see another video is on the way.

loved this intro, would be great to have some more concrete examples of how he uses it in quantum computing

...so this is an intro video in a series? My vote is for more code please!

I was waiting for him to write some code on his paper and then the video ended. I didn't learn anything...

17 people didn't find an editor that balances parentheses for them.

Show me some code!

Geez comments-people, chill out! The video is titled "programmers choice" with a programmer explaining WHY it's his choice ... that's it! It's conversational. Listen to what he's saying and then go find videos focusing on the code if you want to know more.

Hadn't thought Lisp was that flexible. I'm pretty burnt out from template programming in C++, so I ought to give Lisp a try.

For all those wishing the video went into details about why Lisp is useful: Lookup SICP from the legendary MIT curriculum, for which there are also lecture videos by one of the authors Gerald Jay Sussman. The language is timeless so even the old materials are perfectly fine to study today.

Ha, LISP! yes! This was one of the first languages I learned. It was so long ago, I had forgotten the name.

I worked with _Auto_ LISP in the late 80'ies early 90ies. I think/presume they are related. It was one of the first languages I actually used. Strange syntax - but when you get used to it, it's quite fun and amazing. Even made a Mandelbrot Fractal program for AutoCAD. Slow as hell but fun to build.

More about how Robert does his coding for quantum computing please!

Finally a video with Lisp in it! My favorite language

Just want to say, Most quantum programs are not actually using lisp, most are using small, proprietary DSLs for quantum computing, such as IBM's OpenQASM

He is saying that Lisp is suitable to quantum computing (qc) because qc is new, and Lisp allows you to extend the language extremely easily. The bonus video goes into more detail

mhh. maybe I should look into lisp myself a little more before but... Defining a concept and later working with that... can't every ordinary language do that? I mean if there wasn't a for loop previously you could surely just define a function for() with more basic instructions inside, right? Maybe lisp goes deeper. I should check that out.

So is there an extra bit or not?

A decade since my loops looked like for(int i=....). Now I am counting cores and dividing into shared/private variables. I have never seen a quantum computing problem though.

I can't click on the “meta-programming” video at the end. There's no link and does not appear in the general search. What happened to it?

I remember xkcd's author's a fan of Lisp...didn't think much of it when he mentioned it in his comics, but now i'm intrigued.

I can't believe I took a couse in university which started with "lisp is a functional language" and RU-vid is now informing me otherwise

I am glad that there is a follow-on video. We waited for 6 minutes 12 for any examples to justify his 'fondness' of Lisp. Nothing. Not a bit of code - except a allusion to an assembler-version of a For Loop construct.

What's the difference between this and defining functions?

Great! Twenty five years ago when I was using XEmacs as my C editor working at a startup I used to have it do things like generate header files. Then after we went public I had it load stock prices from Yahoo and show a ticker on the Modeline.

Webmaster, the two floating popups to related articles are covering up the two static links to related articles. The latter are inaccessible. Both in Chrome and Safari.

Nim is very similar in that you can extend the language and create new syntax and new functionality, and you get the bonus that nim code is a lot nicer to look at

How can you use x86 architecture for quantum computing? It seems x86 would need some ASIC/FPGA to provide an interface between that and the wires going to quantum computer.

Why was the video cut short?

You might also want to look into Prolog, which is also good in writing languages and extend the language itself. But yes, I like Common Lisp, it was my fist language in Computer Science, Uppsala University. Also learned to code in Erlang and Prolog there. And yes, Lisp IS a functional, symbol manipulation language. It was designed from the beginning to express the lambda calculus, the basis of functional programming. Yes, it has a great macro language and it is very flexible. And yes, you become a better programmer by learning to program in Lisp.

Which variation should I learn

I'd like to hear about "Smalltalk" next

So how can we actually add two numbers with quantum mechanics? 🤔

Great, now I want to learn Lisp.

That's exactly my efforts here in Brazil, tks for posting :D

Wow. That was astonishingly non informational.

I noticed there was no discussion of having someone else understand his code. When he extends the language, does he publish an API? Is the code itself documented? Maybe it won't matter... Maybe it will.

Ever tried template metaprogramming in C++ (just replace drowning in round brackets with drowning in angle brackets :P)...

before i knew what macros were i loved to use m4 directives when i was learning c

The end of the channel's videos cut off mid-sentence. Is there another site where we see the entire video? Thanks.

So by inventing the fitting langue on the way doesn't that result in noone being able to comprehend the done work in a reasonable time?

Haven't worked with Lisp, but I have used Scheme. These languages are fun to use.

I always found Lisp to be defun fun() Oh, I used AutoLisp to add functionality to AutoCAD

I love Computerphile!

What about microsoft's Q# ?

Cakewalk Application Language scripting was based on this. The weirdest concept for me was that the plus, minus, increment, equals and other operators are written first. But surprisingly it started to make sense soon.

why not use Mathematica for example? I use it to "program" the theory rules or formalism, so i can do physics computations automatically

I found this video very interesting, and didn't come into it expecting a tutorial or a deep explanation of the code itself. The title didn't infer either of those things. It would take 2 seconds to find the code if you really wanted to.

You needed to have had Richard Stallman doing this video; then again, I supposed you wanted it to be less than 2 hours in length, so... ... OR... someone with a lithp...

I feel like Marc Grenville-Cleave is an important name to know, but I don't, is that bad?

Doesn't forth also meet your criteria?

how does lisp do this? this video is a (lengthy) intro ... and then it just stops o.0

It gets compiled to machine language, not assembly, right?

I enjoyed the video but you don’t show an example of the code, not even something simple, would be better if you showed us how some of the concepts he was exposing actually appear

*_...quantum computing is where they simulate a neutron decaying in less than 700 seconds half-life if you can wait long enough for the full answer..._* (p.s. 700 was updated to 880±)

Lisp owes it's great utility to the power of the cons-cell data structure.

Not too sure about that sun example...

you should check out Racket if you haven't already!

I can't decide if that's Tom Scott or John Green...

Just bought 'Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs' by Abelson and Harold. I used to know BASIC when I was a little kid and I am just getting back into computer science. I think my best bet is to start off fresh with Lisp. Lectures from Abelson and Harold are available through MIT OpenCourseware.

A Colonel of an idea. Not quite as advanced in rank as a General idea, but still a solid idea nonetheless.

so, the meta-programming video is still in "coming soon" after 4 years 👀?

Do the parentheses also become entangled?

Ye yu, how about Mark Grenville-cleave? Who was him?

Thank you

You forgot to add the git proyect link

Lisp and Forth changed my life.

Great video! The first language I learned was racket, which is lisp-based and you're totally on the mark on, for example Java, being a lot more constraining---switching from racket to Java was a bit of a mind screw

I’m glad I decided to try lisp out. It’s a great programming language. I don’t know why I like it so much though but to me it feels really intuitive, even after only 2 days of messing with it. With python, that took me a month. After 4 years of Python being in all 5 of my top 5 list of favorite programming language, lisp has crawled it’s way up there to 5th place. Places 1-4 are still Python though...

Is it just me or does Computerphile's endslates never actually have clickable links? :< I want to watch that meta-programming video but it's not clickable. (And yes I'm aware the links are usually in the description, but it's more intuitive to click the annotations.)

A video on FORTH please, Thanks a lot.

Nice

4:29 I thought most time programming is spent debugging!

He’s so cool!

This is all true - and lisp is great - however you don’t really demonstrate that will prove your assertions.

Lots of vague assertions with no code? What kind of computer programming video is this?

Thanks

lisp is great for creating AI, NN, fuzzy logic, machine learning.

I think not just lisp but every new language you learn, teaches you to look at problems in a different way

Q# anyone?

I see Converse-Polish Notation, transverse operational listing, wright next to Reverse-Polish Notation. :.: (At the same time..) Non-linear code/language write nExt to Linear language/code. :: A Quantum Server for storing hyperGraphically compiled Holograms in Mass(ive) Data, ¹n² quantum inFormation; available for reCalling over and over aGain.

The Earth does not revolve around the Sun. This particular referential allows for the most elegant and simple mathematical representation.

Lisp programmers are just so _out there_

This video is just a lisp service.

ahhhh just show us the code please

what's a computer

wow

You can write lisp in lisp very concisely, which is actual computing magic. It's so ahead of its time it's incredible....

Lithp

Lithp is a great language!

(((((((((((((((((((((( a thing ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

This video need examples

I used to sit at a lunch table with this guy in high school. You guessed it. We were not the cool kids.

part 2 part 2 part 2 part 2!

LISP almost vanished in the 1970's: even with outsourcing to China, the entire world was incapable of producing a sufficient supply of parentheses. Advanced automation -- the production of parentheses in pairs -- enabled it to hang on for a while, but it was always a struggle. Quantum computing is its only hope: propositions which simultaneously are and are not in parentheses!

RIP.