Lexing Lisp in Python Question: I have been interested by the Lisp language, and I decided to create my own dialect. This is going to be the most simple one to ever exist. As you know, everything in Lisp is a list (or at least this dialect). A list consists of a command that comes …
How can I install MacVim on OSX 12.5 and get it to run the REPL for Lisp? Question: Update: Due to a change in the default build of vim and a change in directory structure on MacOS 12.5 no longer having Python frameworks installed, SLIMV initiated REPL doesn’t work with vim of MacVim when installing …
Why are Python and Ruby so slow, while Lisp implementations are fast? Question: I find that simple things like function calls and loops, and even just loops incrementing a counter take far more time in Python and Ruby than in Chicken Scheme, Racket, or SBCL. Why is this so? I often hear people say that …
How is Lisp's read-eval-print loop different than Python's? Question: I’ve encounter a following statement by Richard Stallman: ‘When you start a Lisp system, it enters a read-eval-print loop. Most other languages have nothing comparable to read, nothing comparable to eval, and nothing comparable to print. What gaping deficiencies! ‘ Now, I did very little programming …
What can you do with Lisp macros that you can't do with first-class functions? Question: I think I understand Lisp macros and their role in the compilation phase. But in Python, you can pass a function into another function def f(filename, g): try: fh = open(filename, “rb”) g(fh) finally: close(fh) So, we get lazy evaluation …
Python vs. Ruby for metaprogramming Question: I’m currently primarily a D programmer and am looking to add another language to my toolbox, preferably one that supports the metaprogramming hacks that just can’t be done in a statically compiled language like D. I’ve read up on Lisp a little and I would love to find a …
