zachbeane's comments

zachbeane | 11 months ago | on: Why I Program in Lisp

Common Lisp at its base is usually written in Common Lisp.

zachbeane | 3 years ago | on: Common Lisp Object System (CLOS)

The class and instance evolution protocols for starters seem not all that easy.

zachbeane | 3 years ago | on: 50MB for Hello World

If you mean the C compiled code, that's what a typical sbcl binary is already. On my system it's around 2.5MB. The compiled CL code image (and its related data) is around 50MB. save-lisp-and-die sticks the image into the runtime binary.

zachbeane | 3 years ago | on: Common Lisp names all sixteen binary logic gates

Also, some context from comp.lang.lisp is available at https://www.xach.com/naggum/articles/3250122499743574%40nagg...

zachbeane | 4 years ago | on: Constitution Grove – the Navy’s White Oak Forest on a High Tech Base (2020)

Sweden had a similar idea. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/visingso-oak-forest

zachbeane | 5 years ago | on: The Sweden Solar System

It extends to Topsfield. At the intersection of Route 1 and Route 6 there's a model of Eris.

zachbeane | 8 years ago | on: You Can’t Block Mark Zuckerberg or Priscilla Chan on Facebook

The Mark Zuckerberg profile is promoted heavily on "who to follow"-type interstitials. It also shows up when friends like or share things it posts. Blocking would be a simple way to avoid seeing those things, if it worked.

zachbeane | 9 years ago | on: Zach Beane: The Quicklisp fundraiser is now up and running

My video appeal is here: https://vimeo.com/194845103

zachbeane | 9 years ago | on: Practical Common Lisp (2005)

I hope to improve the documentation and security of Quicklisp in the next few months. It will depend on funding.

The core of Quicklisp is in dist.lisp. Understanding the protocol of the generic functions at the start of that file will help clarify Quicklisp as a whole. Almost everything else Quicklisp does is in support of that protocol.

zachbeane | 10 years ago | on: A Brief Guide to CLOS (1998)

This is a not a good guide. Avoid Graham too.

PCL is much better. Keene too. Seek out Joe Marshall's Warp Speed intro too.

zachbeane | 10 years ago | on: State of the Common Lisp Ecosystem

Postmodern is good. It works only on Postgres. It is fast, easy, and stable.

Elephant has been unmaintained for many years. I wouldn't recommend it.

zachbeane | 10 years ago | on: ADSF-install is obsolete

Yes, unfortunately that's the case.

There are a handful of commands described on http://www.quicklisp.org/ but there is no end-to-end, comprehensive user or developer manual.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: CLisp needs maintainers

GNU CLISP does not get any resources, human or otherwise, from the GNU project. If Sam stops working on CLISP, he's not going to start working on GNU Emacs or gdb instead.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: CLisp needs maintainers

This is true in the same sense that the GIMP is the "GNU Image Manipulation Program". It's just a label, and a license choice, without much real meaning behind it. GCL is also called "GNU Common Lisp".

CMUCL is not popular any more.

SBCL is popular, and so is Clozure CL.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: A Brief Guide to the Common Lisp Object System

Starting from classes and describing generic functions as a way to send messages is pretty backwards for CLOS.

CLOS is best used primarily by defining a protocol with generic functions, then using methods and (optionally) classes to implement the protocol.

http://xach.com/lisp/jrm-clos-guide.html has a copy of Joe Marshall's "Warp Speed" CLOS guide.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: Reader Macros in Common Lisp

Yes, with more than a trivial amount of work. When the syntax is more lisp-congruent, you don't have to jump through as many hoops.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: Reader Macros in Common Lisp

Certain things are still hardwired into the Common Lisp reader. For example, because of how colons are treated in symbols, you can't trivially support something like JSON via reader macros. It still works best if the input bears a pretty good resemblance to lisp.

That's not such a big deal, because there are plenty of tools for conventional input parsing in Common Lisp.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: Corman Lisp sources are now available

I think anyone who wants to be able to stick with a system as they grow, get supportive help from an active user base, reuse the work of others in the form of useful libraries, and not worry about the viability and future of their development environment should use something like LispWorks, Allegro CL, Clozure CL, or SBCL. LispWorks and Allegro CL are just as easy to install and use on Windows as Corman Lisp.

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: Corman Lisp sources are now available

Cool!

It would be interesting to see how far it gets on the ANSI test suite from http://www.cliki.net/GCL%20ANSI%20Test%20Suite

zachbeane | 11 years ago | on: Corman Lisp sources are now available

It might have been at some point in the past, but it doesn't run on modern systems, does not fully implement Common Lisp, and can't run much of the useful software written in the past 10 or so years.

It's still pretty cool, but not as a learning tool in 2015.