wait a sec

homoiconic means "can represent it's own syntax"... is there one programming language that CANT? I mean wtf.. they're all NP complete so what's the difference

>>1
Not exactly, you can represent the AST of an expression using exactly the same code as the expression (with a quote). You can also manipulate it very easily. In other languages, the AST is a lot messier, but with a parser you can get at it. The difference lies in the amount of difficulty you'd have in generating code or modifying code. It's just a lot easier in a homoiconic language (for example some Lisps).

>>2
but I can just do quote("i++;") in C where 'quote' is a parser...

>>3
I C++ parser/compiler is a mammoth and extremely slow program. A Lisp parser isn't. Homiconicity is about the "now it's worth it" threshold. In a homoiconic language, it's "worth it" to write code that writes code.

it's own

homoiconic means "can represent it's own syntax"... is there one programming language that CANT?

perl ?

Why not just read the wiki page? It's pretty clear.

>>6
No, you've got that backwards. "Only perl can parse Perl."

>>1
I don't think you know what homoiconic means.

I just learned how to use the spoiler tag, and now I'm shitposting on pork!