alt Hacker News > What Made Lisp Different:
> 1. Conditionals (if-then-else construct)
> 2. A function type (functions as first class objects)
> 3. Recursion
> 4. A new concept of variables (dynamic typing and pass-by-pointer)
> 5. Garbage-collection
Looks like most modern languages have more in common with Lisp than FORTRAN, besides the syntax.
That list is incomplete. Those are things that Lisp invented but is now commonplace. What it also invented but rather few languages also support is the capability of metaprogramming, being able to treat code as data.