Folks,
I am new to Lisp. Started 6 days back. But I already like
it! I have a few queries and would love your suggestions/opinions.
#1. Which lisp to use? Currently I am using GCL under GNU/Debian
Linux. I also have installed CLISP. Which one is better?
#2. Is there any GCL specific newsgroup/mailinglist?
#3. I have programmed in C for the last 3/4 years. Do I go ahead
with Lisp or go back to C? Is there a future for Lisp programmers?
Or do I just keep it as a hobby?
#4. With what I have done in the last few days (read 200 odd pages of
the book "Gentle Intro to Symbolic Computation") I have like Lisp.
Can anyone point out any _good_ material on the net?
thanks a lot
quasi
·········@yahoo.com (Q u a s i) writes:
> I am new to Lisp. Started 6 days back. But I already like
> it! I have a few queries and would love your suggestions/opinions.
>
> #1. Which lisp to use? Currently I am using GCL under GNU/Debian
> Linux. I also have installed CLISP. Which one is better?
It's a matter of personal choice. As a rule, though, I don't think
GCL is a full CL, unless someone's done a lot of work on it recently.
It mostly conforms to the 1984 specification (CLTL) plus maybe a few
extensions. The 1994 specification (ANSI CL) is the most current
standard.
Go to http://www.alu.org/ (the Association of Lisp Users) for pointers
to other implementations, to documentation, etc.
> #2. Is there any GCL specific newsgroup/mailinglist?
Don't know. It doesn't say in the source? :-)
> #3. I have programmed in C for the last 3/4 years. Do I go ahead
> with Lisp or go back to C? Is there a future for Lisp programmers?
> Or do I just keep it as a hobby?
Is it an either/or thing? There ARE lisp jobs, though they are less
numerous than C jobs. They are also more pleasurable. Sometimes one
or the other pays better. Being versatile is best.
> #4. With what I have done in the last few days (read 200 odd pages of
> the book "Gentle Intro to Symbolic Computation") I have like Lisp.
> Can anyone point out any _good_ material on the net?
The ALU web page is good for general "getting started" issues.
This forum is better if you have more specific questions.
"quasi" wrote:
> Folks,
> I am new to Lisp. Started 6 days back. But I already like
> it! I have a few queries and would love your suggestions/opinions.
>
> #1. Which lisp to use? Currently I am using GCL under GNU/Debian
> Linux. I also have installed CLISP. Which one is better?
GCL compiles to C, which it then compiles using gcc.
CLISP compiles to bytecode, which is executed by a
virtual machine. GCL will probably run somewhat faster.
CLISP is actively maintained. GCL, much less so.
CLISP is much nearer to being compliant with the
ANSI standard, for instance. There are important
things in that standard that CLers have grown to
expect and that simply aren't there in GCL. This
issue also means that you'll find it easier getting
help when you're stuck with CLISP than with GCL,
and you're likely to find that there are more
libraries and tools that work with CLISP than
with GCL.
Although GCL is likely to be faster than CLISP
in general, some things will be faster in CLISP.
(1) The compilation process itself is slow in GCL,
for obvious reasons. (2) CLISP has the GMP library
linked into it, which means that its bignums perform
extremely well. Some bignum-heavy applications run
faster in CLISP than in any other CL implementation.
> #2. Is there any GCL specific newsgroup/mailinglist?
I don't know. Sorry.
> #3. I have programmed in C for the last 3/4 years. Do I go ahead
> with Lisp or go back to C? Is there a future for Lisp programmers?
> Or do I just keep it as a hobby?
Programming in Lisp and programming in C aren't exclusive.
You can do both. (Though you're likely to find at least one
of them very frustrating after spending a long time doing
the other.) Some people have even had success writing C
by writing Lisp that generates the C code. (I'd only recommend
doing that if for technical or political reasons the final
code absolutely has to be in C.)
There are a lot more C jobs out there than Lisp jobs. But
the Lisp jobs are probably more interesting and they might
pay better. (And there's less competition.)
> #4. With what I have done in the last few days (read 200 odd pages of
> the book "Gentle Intro to Symbolic Computation") I have like Lisp.
> Can anyone point out any _good_ material on the net?
I don't know how good what's on the net is. For a next step
after Touretzky, I'd suggest Norvig's "Paradigms of Artificial
Intelligence Programming: Case studies in Common Lisp", which
I think is one of the best programming books ever written.
--
Gareth McCaughan ················@pobox.com
.sig under construc
> #1. Which lisp to use? Currently I am using GCL under GNU/Debian
> Linux. I also have installed CLISP. Which one is better?
>
On Linux you might also consider using CMUCL.
--
Howard Ding
······@worldnet.att.net
http://math.sunysb.edu/~hading http://thunder.prohosting.com/~hading