Re: (OT) Has anyone gone from perl to lisp?

[mpeg4codec]

I was taking AI and programming languages at the same time last spring at uni. About half of AI was devoted to Lisp, and we spent a lot of time on Scheme and other functional languages in PL.

Absolutely 100% worth my time. I still dabble in those languages, but mostly took the excellent things I learned from them and applied them to Perl. It translated very well, and really gave me a new level of appreciation for Perl's TIMTOWTDI philosophy.

The learning curve is a bit steeper for Lisp/Scheme, since you have to learn to think a little differently as repellent notes. But don't let it get you down. If you stick with it and have someone who legitimately loves the language help you, you'll have an ``A-ha!'' moment that feels really great.

Again, I can't recommend it enough. I feel like learning to program functionally really helped me bridge a gap in my abilities, not just as a Perl programmer, but as a programmer in general.