Peter tech-reviewed the second edition of my Java AI book and made the comment that Java was half as good as Common Lisp for AI and that was probably good enough (we had both written Common Lisp books). He then went to Google and I had lunch with him; I was surprised that he was using Python.

I like his poem in the article!

A little off topic, but I retired (that is a bit of a joke) and at the age of 69, this year I decided that for maximum programming enjoyment I would only use Lisp languages (linking in Python and TensorFlow on occasion). I am approaching 40 years using Common Lisp and using the language is so much fun. I bought a license for LispWorks and using it for developing a semantic web app.

PythagoRascal

If I may ask, what references would you recommend to someone interested in something like Lisp, but who has never touched a functional language before?

pcr910303

Not OP, but Lisp isn’t really a functional language — it’s a usual language that also has some functional ideas inside. Mutation is common, don’t think Lisp will be a language like Haskell.

For resources, I would recommend Practical Common Lisp[0] and PAIP[1].

For some modern development practices, the Common Lisp Cookbook[2] is great.

[0]: http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/

[1]: https://github.com/norvig/paip-lisp

[2]: http://lispcookbook.github.io/cl-cookbook/