[slgeorge]

I wasn't trying to set up an "opposition" on the language level in my sentence. The decision was couched in my personal constraints - whether "as a hobbyist" it was practical for me to learn the language successfully. And, having done so would it have the capabilities so I can build things that I'm interested in. For me personally, I like to have plenty of 'similar code' so that I can see what other people do. I was comparing this with a more academic approach which I've seen many Lisp learners enjoy - for example going through the Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP). Other languages I looked at and seemed interesting were Elm and Racket - no particular reason why they didn't stick.

I suspect a lot of the dynamics of my choice are because I wasn't coming from any sort of Lisp background previously. If you were coming from Common Lisp then things would feel different.