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It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

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Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#61

Wow, wasn't expecting to see my post on here! Eventually, I want to write a follow-up, but I'm still a beginner. Here's what I've liked about Common Lisp so far: * The condition system is neat and I've never used anything like it -- you can easily control code from afar with restarts * REPL-driven programming is handy in situations where you don't quite know what will happen and don't want to lose context -- for exam…

Thanks for your write up. I am looking forward to the next installment.

Thank you for your Lisp books!

I like your pragmatic approach of using Lisp where it makes sense and not being afraid to shell out to something else where appropriate (among many other nuggets of wisdom).

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#62
post #2

If you're into 3D graphics, this could be a fun Common Lisp codebase to look at. I have tried to keep it simple and comprehensible. https://github.com/kaveh808/kons-9

Look up Kaveh’s CL tutorial videos on YouTube. They’re really good.

I think you are replying to him.

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#64
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds so amazing, why is Common Lisp not the most popular language out there? (asking as someone who almost never writes code)

Because language popularity is, at best, loosely correlated with any intrinsic qualities of the language itself.

See also advertising. C++ and Java had enormous advertising budgets, while Common Lisp had virtually none. For years, virtually every programming book and magazine was touting C++ and then later Java. Every conference, every keynote, everything a CTO might ever read or notice was telling them to use C++ or Java.

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#65

Wow, wasn't expecting to see my post on here! Eventually, I want to write a follow-up, but I'm still a beginner. Here's what I've liked about Common Lisp so far: * The condition system is neat and I've never used anything like it -- you can easily control code from afar with restarts * REPL-driven programming is handy in situations where you don't quite know what will happen and don't want to lose context -- for exam…

I have some cons!

Last time I checked on it, QuickLisp doesn't support fetching packages over anything except for plain http, with no encryption and no verification mechanism in place to detect files that may have been tampered with during transmission.

I think not supporting encryption or authentication for something as important as fetching source code makes QL a non-starter for me and hopefully for anyone else who cares about security.

Another issue I have ran into, is that SBCL is hosted on sourceforge, which has in the past injected malware into projects downloadable archives! I consider this to also be a security issue, and sourceforge in general is not pleasant to work with. I don't think there are any valid reasons to continue to use sourceforge today, so why such an important project continues to use it confuses me a lot.

I don't see these issues mentioned by anyone else which is bizarre to me.

I really like lisps and common lisp specifically but things like this has driven me away from using it and it doesn't appear that anyone cares about fixing these things.

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#66
post #64
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because language popularity is, at best, loosely correlated with any intrinsic qualities of the language itself.

See also advertising. C++ and Java had enormous advertising budgets, while Common Lisp had virtually none. For years, virtually every programming book and magazine was touting C++ and then later Java. Every conference, every keynote, everything a CTO might ever read or notice was telling them to use C++ or Java.

[dead]

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#67
post #56

There are plenty of old business systems which are critical, can't be removed or turned off, and use LISP, COBOL, etc. Meanwhile, nothing important uses Clojure or other trendy flash-in-the-pan language. If you want an interesting project, sure, use Clojure or something. If you want money, learn COBOL.

Doesn’t walmart use clojure?

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#68
post #4

The scoop: Scheme and Janet are great, but the author wants a more standalone language. What makes the difference is the breakloop, a full-blown REPL that opens when an error in a program occurs. Not a stacktrace, not a debugger; just build from the point where it's currently broken.

> What makes the difference is the breakloop, a full-blown REPL that opens when an error in a program occurs. Not a stacktrace, not a debugger; just build from the point where it's currently broken.

This just makes me wanna bust open a smalltalk image...

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#69

Wow, wasn't expecting to see my post on here! Eventually, I want to write a follow-up, but I'm still a beginner. Here's what I've liked about Common Lisp so far: * The condition system is neat and I've never used anything like it -- you can easily control code from afar with restarts * REPL-driven programming is handy in situations where you don't quite know what will happen and don't want to lose context -- for exam…

I will give you a cons. https://cons.io Gerbil/Gambit scheme are fully static binary generating alternative to CL.

Re: It's 2023, so of course I'm learning Common Lisp

#70

Steel Bank Common Lisp is the workhorse which led me to build profitable software companies. I don't think I would be as productive without it. The repl driven workflow is amazing and the lisp images are rock solid and highly performant.

> The repl driven workflow is amazing and the lisp images are rock solid and highly performant.

do people not realize that basically everything vm/interpreted language has a repl these days?

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/java-repl-j...

https://github.com/waf/CSharpRepl

https://pub.dev/packages/interactive

not to mention ruby, python, php, lua

hell even c++ has a janky repl https://github.com/root-project/cling

edit: i get downvoted by the lisp crowd every time i bring up that the repl isn't a differentiating feature anymore :shrug:

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