I was wondering what unique features I can learn from Scheme that would help me become a better programmer?
I have a lot experience in mainstream languages, and I am looking to expand my horizons and learn about functional aspects that are missing from other languages. I am familiar with closures from javascript, lambda expressions from C#, and I was wondering what I can focus on that is lacking in other languages? Aside from the Lisp syntax, I feel like what I have seen so far I've already encountered in other languages.
What is unique to Scheme/Lisp that will teach me something new?
Best Answer
Perhaps the most important defining characteristic of Lisp is "Code as Data." You won't get that experience in quite the same way with any other language. In C#, the closest analogue is expression trees.
It is that quality that makes Lisp an excellent language for parsing. It's also the quality that motivated Paul Graham to say of Lisp: "The unusual thing about Lisp-- in fact, the defining quality of Lisp-- is that it can be written in itself." Although self-hosting compilers are nothing new, no language does it quite as elegantly as Lisp does.
Metaprogramming (something in which Lisp also excels) is also a worthwhile thing to learn.
Beating the Averages by Paul Graham
http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html