[somat]

Comparing lisp and APL is interesting because they feel almost opposite in approach to language design.

Lisp optimizes for syntax simplicity, the "all possible computation is expressible with these three symbols" sort of thing. see also: forth

APL takes the more traditional math syntax approach and optimizes for space. "how to most concisely express an operation"

As a tangent. I have to admit, as a casual enjoyer of math, I sometimes wish that institutionally they had gone the lisp route instead of the APL route. a simple universal syntax instead of the super dense domain specific ones they use. I understand why they do it. easier to manipulate. But I hate getting stuck at the beginning, functionally illiterate, just trying to figure out their syntax.