I only put that in there because I asked a like question in a different forum and got all sorts of "use C++" or "use LISP" answers.

And that's why I qualified "when studying algorithms". Because there are some things for which other languages may be more appropriate as a studying ground. For example, if you are studying programming languages theory, it might be better to stick with Scheme or LISP so that you can more easily translate your Lambda calculus and tail recursions and continuations into working code... (and no, I don't want to reopen the "Lisp vs Perl" discussion :-)

--ZZamboni