Erik Naggum explains the importance of the ‘pair’ notion in Scheme, highlighting the success of the abstract data type (ADT). He criticizes the simplistic view and flawed implementations in other languages, praising the brilliance and complexity of Lisp’s ‘list’ ADT. Naggum delves into the historical background behind the ‘cons cell’ and the significance of ‘car’ and ‘cdr’ instructions. He contrasts Common Lisp’s approach to Scheme’s oversimplification, emphasizing the usefulness of operators like ‘first’ and ‘rest.’ Naggum concludes with a scathing remark towards those who dismiss the complexity and brilliance of Lisp’s list concept.
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