This paper dates from 1984, and circulated as a Chalmers memo for many years. Slightly revised versions appeared in 1989 and 1990 in the Computer Journal and the Year of Programming. This version is based on the original Chalmers memo nroff source, lightl
If you read discussions about programming languages, one topic is quite common: "Why do people use an inferior language like Java/C++/what-the-hell and not a superior language like Lisp/Haskell/Python/you-name-it"?