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Ask HN: Lisp / functional programming freelance experiences?

11 points by dualogy ↗ HN
Are there any Lisp freelancers doing projects in this lovely language? Or is it all hobbyists?

I'm coming from a C# background but for a while now my love was with functional programming and particularly Lisp. C# / SharePoint gigs earn good money, whereas Python seems to be less in demand and rather valued about as low as PHP, maybe a little higher. Maybe Ruby is closest to providing a "healthy" (for the programmer), strong-demand freelance market when wanting to work functional... any freelancers out there being able to work on projects they love, other than their own? My C# / SharePoint projects pay the bills but I increasingly loathe them. I don't want to get trapped in the "deferred life plan" where I get to do what I love only nights and weekends and do things I don't really like doing any more for a living.

Maybe it's unrelated to the actual technology and just the "someone else's project" that is the cause for the bad flavour of project work. But that would require some psychological analysis I don't care to indulge in; right now I'm interested in how Lisp and/or functional freelancers are faring!

6 comments

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ivankirigin
Have you considered joining a company that uses Lisp? Why do it on the side?

I have a new theory about getting what you want. Just do it. It has worked splendidly for me so far.

I would imagine freelance Lisp would be a good way to learn as well. Rather than toy problems, you can solve someone's real problem.

randix
If you follow the link: http://www.software-lab.de/download you will find a Lisp that the author (and I) has used in many projects. I believe he has been freelancing for over 30 years, and at least the last 12-15 have been using this (or predecessors of it) language. I have also been freelancing for 19 years and "doing what I want". I did python for 7 years and have now switched to using picolisp. randix.net
Zak
I've done a few paid projects using Lisp. It's usually not too hard to talk people in to when they aren't committed to a particular technology already and are hoping to get the best combination of cheap/fast/good. I have a project coming up involving small-business networking for a particular company's customers and I'm planning to use Common Lisp for that.
tritchey
We do much of our web development at http://bitfauna.com in Lisp. Most of our clients don't care what language we use, and wouldn't know Lisp from Ruby or Python. At the end of the day, the client cares about whether the site is a) working b) economical.

Lisp is not all we end up doing for clients, and we have the odd job where we maintain and update legacy applications in C# or ColdFusion. But, we have never found an issue using Lisp for new projects.

dlweinreb
I recommend that you get in touch with Clozure (www.clozure.com). They know more about contract Lisp work than just about anybody. There are many consultants who work, via Clozure, for companies doing work in Lisp.

Or, apply for a job at www.itasoftware.com. I love working there. See http://dlweinreb.wordpress.com/2007/12/24/16/.