Why do Lispers format their code like shown in sample 1 instead of as shown in sample 2? To me (and I guess, to most others coming from different programming backgrounds than Lisp), the formatting shown in sample 2 would be easier to read. Is there any particular reason why Lispers prefer the sample 1 style?
Sample 1
(defun factorial (n)
(if (<= n 1)
1
(* n (factorial (- n 1)))))
Sample 2
(defun factorial (n)
(if (<= n 1)
1
(* n (factorial (- n 1)))
)
)
Answer
LISP IDE environments tend to balance parentheses automatically and manage indents based on nesting level. Sample 2 does not bring any advantages in those situations.
In the C/FORTRAN/Pascal heritage, you tend to emphasize sequencing over nesting (code parse trees are shallower and wider). End of scope is a more significant event in your code: hence emphasis has been and still to some extent is more important.