I'm exploring whether or not the implementation of Perl would become simpler if there was one datatype used to represent the things we see as strings, lists, and hashes.

It might be simpler, but it would never happen. You seem to view this as just a "matter of time" since computers will be so fast they will make up for the "inefficiency" of this LISP-y implementation. The speed of a computer is a factor, but it is probably the least important factor when it comes to "efficiency."

Constant speedups are one thing, but if you have a bad algorithm (like blindly searching a list to implement an associative array), the problem will scale poorly no matter how fast your computer is. The only way a futuristic computer running a linear-time algorithm could keep up with another computer running a constant-time algorithm would be if it could somehow compress time.

If I had to choose between a fast computer and fast algorithms, I'd choose fast algorithms ;)

You'd have a better chance of convincing me that this is a good idea if the implementation stays efficient and the everything-is-a-list is just a unifying interface to whatever the underlying structure is. Although I still don't see what this does that LISP doesn't already do.

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.