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The one thing that makes LISP great is the "functions are data" formulation.

Many of the "current best paradigms" of Computer Science are actually fads. LISP was a fad of the 1980s. Java was a fad of the 1990s. NoSQL databases are a current fad. It doesn't mean that one is better than another. It's human nature to think that new technology must be better than old technology. In fact, the programming environment on the LISP machines of the 1980s was far better than anything we had till the early 2000s, despite being "old".



I think you are missing what was/is special about Lisp. It's "the idea of Lisp" (and see other places in this AMA where I've said a few more words).

The "idea of Java" is not special (and it's not clear that you could even say there is an "idea of Java").




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