[comp.sys.mac] Looking for Common Lisp for the Mac

tcheng@uiucdcsm.cs.uiuc.edu (10/13/87)

Help!!!

I'm looking for the best implementation of COMMON LISP for the the Mac-Plus.
Any -->'s appriciated.

Dave Tcheng

roberts@cognos.uucp (Robert Stanley) (10/19/87)

In article <8400003@uiucdcsm> tcheng@uiucdcsm.cs.uiuc.edu(Dave Tcheng) writes:

>I'm looking for the best implementation of COMMON LISP for the the Mac-Plus.
>Any -->'s appriciated.

At the moment it looks as if the Coral Lisp package is the best bet.  I have
not used it myself, but played with it at AAAI-87 in a pre-release form, and
talked with the developers.  I believe the Allegro release is either just out
or just about to be out.

	Allegro Common Lisp
	Coral Software
	P.O. Box 307
	Cambridge, MA 02142

	(617) 547-2662
	(800) 521-1027 Outside Massachusetts

Hope this helps.


-- 
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jasst3@cisunx.UUCP (sullivan jeffrey a.) (10/22/87)

In article <8400003@uiucdcsm>, tcheng@uiucdcsm.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
> 
> Help!!!
> 
> I'm looking for the best implementation of COMMON LISP for the the Mac-Plus.
> Any -->'s appriciated.
> 
> Dave Tcheng

Well, Dave, you've got an easy choice, if Common Lisp is what you really want.
There are two CL implementations on the mac, Expertelligence has ExperCommon
Lisp (~$999), and Coral Software has Allegro Extended Common Lisp (~$400).

Surprisingly, Allegro (AECL) is the only full implementation of CL!  Exper 
(ECL) is not a full common lisp (as defined in the book: CLtL by Guy Steele).
Apparently, there are also some real problems with ECL; it has been a real 
problem to some of my classmates.

AECL is a pleasure to work with, on the other hand.  It is a full CL with 
extensions, and has an object-oriented programming system of some power
(ObjectLisp by Gary Drescher) built into it.  Most of the Mac interface is
objectified (windows, menus, dialogs, and pop-ups) for easy use.  A 
built-in Emacs-style editor is integrated seamlessly into the system.  I have
run into no bugs so far.

On the other shoe, ECL is the only one that lets you create stand-alone
applications at this time.  Coral is working on a stand-alone generator, which
will likely be ready by year's end.  They are also releasing this week a 
documentation upgrade which will hopefully fix a slight disappointment in
the system:  The docs are brief and very non-tutorial.  I got by, but to
someone just picking up the language, CLtL is likely NOT the place to learn.
Another gripe about Coral AECL is that it came with NO sample programs. 
Strange.

On the whole, I can say that I have heard bad things about ECL from others,
but I have not used it myself, so take this as hearsay.  I have, however,
been using AECL, and can recommend it.  (Though I'd also recommned having
2Megs of memory... the AECL application is !750K!)

..........................................................................
Jeff Sullivan				University of Pittsburgh
pitt!cisunx!jasst3 			Intelligent Systems Studies Program
jasper@PittVMS (BITNET)			Graduate Student
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

kearns@garfield.columbia.edu (Steve Kearns) (10/23/87)

Does the Allegro Common Lisp run on the Mac II?

wrs@F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (Walter Smith) (10/25/87)

In article <5092@columbia.edu>, kearns@garfield.columbia.edu (Steve Kearns) writes:
> 
> Does the Allegro Common Lisp run on the Mac II?

Yes.  Very, very quickly.  Uses the 68881 directly, too.

By the way, whoever said there were two Common Lisps for the Mac was
incorrect.  Despite its name, ExperCommon Lisp is NOT (repeat, NOT)
Common Lisp at all.  How long can these ExperTelligence people
survive, producing the various versions of garbage they call Lisp?
And charging twice as much as Coral!  Wow.  Perhaps they'll buy a copy
of Allegro and get the message.

-- 
       Walter Smith, CS graduate student, Carnegie-Mellon University
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              usps: 5706 Darlington Rd.; Pittsburgh, PA  15217