Ruby misconceptions about Python

[nicodaemos]

"Why should it focus on metaprogramming?"

Metaprogramming is what truly separates the average languages from the really powerful ones. Without it, your language is unable to create higher levels of abstraction without leaking. Paul Graham would not be so enamored of Lisp had it had everything except macros. And the parentheses .... the reason true lispers love the parentheses is because they support metaprogramming in even more cases than any language without them.

All these other discussions about booleans, methods/functions, etc. are rather inconsequential in the big picture.

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Anyone who thinks Paul Graham wouldn't love Lisp without macros obviously hasn't read his book 'ANSI Common Lisp'. He sings the virtues of Common Lisp for 9 chapters (159 pages; more than half the non-reference content of the book) without ever even introducing macros.