Short guide to Lisp (syntax)

(Update: Go watch Rich Hickey's Clojure for Java Programmers for a superior introduction to Clojure's (a Lisp) syntax.) Lisp has been around for a long time. While some of its current magic capabilities are fairly recent, the basic syntax it uses has hardly changed at all over 50 years. To me this means it's endured because it's good and because it's simple and because it's powerful. I'll talk about those last two qualities here, maybe you'll end up also believing the syntax is good.

I will start with a related topic: mathematics. Not any particular usage of math, just the notation. The symbols. One of the hardest things for me in math has been memorizing symbols, especially this little guy: $\nabla$. Very subtle changes in the way you write stuff on paper can drastically change the meaning of something. In elementary school you're taught that $\times$ means the same as $\cdot$. Later you find out they're very different. I could give more symbol soup examples, but take a moment and just skim down the linked Wikipedia page.