SEX

SEX or S-EX is the original abbreviation for Symbolic Expression or S-expression, the now standard parenthetized notation principle for LISP. These days it's more common to spell it SEXP or S-EXP.

The term S-expression originally opposed the intially intended M-expression? (Mathematical Expression) for programs, that would have mimicked mathematical notation in a way that would extend FORTRAN. (LISP was originally thought of as an extension to FORTRAN.) See for instance John McCarthy's History of Lisp: The Implementation Of Lisp


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