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0 pointsmdpopescu10y ago0 comments

I could get over the parentheses but CAR and CDR instead of HEAD / TAIL or FIRST / REST annoy the crap out of me.

0 comments

CAR means Content of Address part of Register and CDR means Content of Decrement part of Register. They were tied to the 36-bits nature of the first LISP machines, with 15 bits to CAR and 15 bits to CDR (plus 2 bits for tags IIRC).

So its not just naming keys in a structure, those had a very low level meaning related the the implementation of the CONS cell structure in hardware.

lgas10y ago

I have no idea about the veracity of the claim but this page[0] contends that Lisp has had first/rest since 1959.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAR_and_CDR

empthought10y ago

It cited the claim with a source, so presumably you could check the veracity that way.

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