Hy: Python as a Lisp | Lobsters

18

Hy: Python as a Lisp python docs.hylang.org
via puffnfresh 4 years ago | cached | 3 comments

3

3
db edited 4 years ago | link
One thing that stands out as a little awkward is the syntax for defining a dict.
```
=> {"dog" "bark"
... "cat" "meow"}
...
{'dog': 'bark', 'cat': 'meow'}
```
I would think the pairing should be more explicit:
```
=> {("dog" "bark")
... ("cat" "meow")}
...
{'dog': 'bark', 'cat': 'meow'}
```
This would actually fall in line with the pythonic way of converting a list to a dict:
```
>>> b = [('dog', 'bark'), ('cat', 'meow')]
>>> dict(a)
{'dog': 'bark', 'cat': 'meow'}
```
Regardless, the quickstart is actually a pretty nice little introduction to lisp for python programmers.
1. 1
  puffnfresh 4 years ago | link
  The syntax is very similar to Clojure:
  
  http://clojure.org/reader (see the maps point)
  
  What I found surprising is that they’re actually implemented as association lists (not Python dicts). To get keys you have to do something like this:
  
  (defn dict-keys [d] (slice d 0 None 2))
  
  I couldn’t see that in the stdlib so I’ll probably submit a pull request and find out :)
  1. 2
    puffnfresh 4 years ago | link
    
    Nevermind, they eventually get compiled down to Python dicts:
    
    => (.values {1 2 3 4}) [2L, 4L] => (.keys {1 2 3 4}) [1L, 3L]
    
    I was confused before because I had a raw HyDict via a macro :(