LISP

List processing language, one of the earliest programming language to feature a garbage collector. Popular in early AI research but is also used as a scripting language in packages such as Emacs, later variants have gained functional programming features and most variants have also gotten some object-oriented features, but referring to any LISP variant as an object-oriented or a functional programming language is taking religious fervour a step too far.

The main problem LISP originally had in gaining any mainstream acceptance as a programming language was simply performance related, while LISP was perfectly acceptable for writing small programs in, large programs could only be done cost effectively after the advent of virtual memory, but that only happened in the late 60's on mainframes, in the 80's for minicomputers and workstations and in the 90's for microcomputers and by that time the LISP world had become so fragmented that it had difficulty maintaining any traction.

Common Lisp (CL)

A dialect of LISP that adds functional programming, object-oriented and procedural features. It originally was instigated by the USA's department of defence in the early 1980's as LISP variants used by contractors were starting to become so diverse that porting of code between projects was becoming difficult.

Scheme

A version of LISP introduced in the 1970's that cuts down the language considerably but at the same time adds some functional features.

A list of OS/2 implementations of LISP

• CLISP - Open Source - Discontinued
• ECoLisp - Open Source - Sort of current
• Kyoto Common Lisp - Open Source - Discontinued
• MIT/GNU Scheme - Open Source - Discontinued
• newLISP - Open Source - Current
• xLISP - Open Source

Libraries

• Snappy - Compression lib. - Open Source - Current.

Foreign libraries with LISP or Scheme bindings

• LibcURL - Internet URL (WWW, FTP, etc) access (LISP + Scheme) - Open Source - Current.
• Snappy - Compression lib. - Open Source - Current.

LISP related programmer's utilities

• Exuberant ctags - Creates index files out of Scheme and LISP source files - Open source - Current.

OS/2 text & programmers editors with LISP support

• Boxer - LISP syntax highlighting support built in - Commercial - Discontinued.
• jEdit - Java based - LISP and Scheme syntax highlighting built in - Current.
• Lugaru Epsilon - LISP syntax highlighting and autoindent available as a seperate download. - Commercial.

A list of DOS implementations of LISP

• ECoLisp - Open Source - Sort of current
• Golden Common Lisp - Commercial - Current
• PC-LISP 3.0 - Shareware
• RefLisp - Open source - Discontinued

DOS text & programmers editors with LISP support

• Boxer - LISP syntax highlighting support built in - Commercial - Discontinued.

A list of LISP implementations that run under WinOS/2

• Apteryx Lisp 1.04 - shareware
• Golden Common Lisp - Commercial - Current
• Goldworks - Commercial - Current

A list of LISP implementations that run under Java

• Armed Bear Common Lisp - Open Source - Current
• CLforJava - Open Source - Discontinued
• GNU Kawa Scheme

Related languages

• Clojure - Functional language that uses LISP syntax.

A list of LISP implementations in JavaScript

Related languages

• ClojureScript - Functional language that uses LISP syntax.

Publications

• Guy L. Steele: [Common Lisp the Language, 2nd Edition] - Free download in HTML and Postscript format - 1990 - Digital Press - ISBN 1-55558-041-6
• Henry Baker's Archive of Research Papers - Primarily Lisp related but a few unrelated papers in-between.
• Ernst D. Schmitter: Praktische Einführung in LISP. - 1987 - Hofacker - ISBN 3-88963-229-7

Links

• Japanese Common LISP User Group

Standards

• Kyoto Common Lisp Report - 1985
• ANSI Common Lisp - ANSI INCITS 226-1994 (X3.226-1994)