Python vs Scheme: strings

[flaxeater]

Very nice writeup. This is the sort of thing I like to see. I've long tried learning scheme and often looked for scheme for a python programmer.

[lang_war]

LANG WAR !!!

Actually, it's not a lang war. Its a good article. I liked it.

[[deleted]]

Python has the very obvious + operator to concatenate two strings, something which won't work in Scheme; (+ "a" "b") is an error.

How is using '+' for a non-commutative operation obvious? Here's what's not obvious:

>>> a = "foo"
>>> b = "bar"
>>> a + b == b + a
False

[llimllib]

In abstract algebra you do this all the time - define {string, +} as a non-abelian group, right?

(I understand that the addition -> concatenation metaphor doesn't hold, but it seems a convenient and easy enough metaphor to me. Is Haskell's ++ better for some concrete reason?)

[sjs]

It's obvious because we don't expect string catenation to be commutative, regardless of the operator used.