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Byte Magazine: LISP (1979)

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Page preview · captured 2026-07-20

Resurfaced independently across 3 calendar years, with breakout response in 2 of them.

submissions
3
submitters
3
observed span
2015–2022
peak thread · 107 comments
259 pts
latest 20+ return · 2022-08-05
259 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

The first article in this issue of BYTE has a very interesting characterization of Lisp that I have not come across before. I mean, famous quotes like "Lisp is a programmable programming language" by John Foderaro and "The greatest single programming language ever designed" by Alan Kay are often mentioned in articles about Lisp. But in this issue of BYTE, the article "An Overview of LISP" by John Allen at page 10 has something very interesting to say. Excerpt from…

susam·259-point thread·

I’m always a little sad that I missed the golden age of computing. I read my first Byte Magazine in the mid 1990s, a couple of years before they stopped publishing. Even then there was a ton of substance about the upcoming Windows 95 release, various detours in OS design that never panned out like Taligent, and how RISC was going to take over the world. It’s rare to read articles of that depth anymore, even on the web much…

rayiner·187-point thread·

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
2

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
451

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
174

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2015-03-24Byte Magazine - LISP (1979)t1m50
2019-05-25Byte Magazine – LISP (1979)First breakouttosh18767
2022-08-05Byte Magazine: LISP (1979)Best thread · Latest 20+ point returnPaulHoule259107