GCOLE@SUSHI.STANFORD.EDU (George S. Cole) (12/08/87)
Re: Expert System Shells for the Mac: Tools to Build the Tool
The paucity of shells for the Macintosh is puzzling. There are three
language environments which can be used to build such a shell currently on
the market: (1) AAIS Prolog; (2) Expertelligence's ExperCommonLisp, and
(3) Allegro Common LISP from Coral Software.
AAIS Prolog is the least expensive of the three -- but contains the
least support for moving beyond the language. The price is below $200 (as
part of a class purchase, we were able to buy it for $70 a copy). Tying new
resources into the system will require some Mac-hacking.
ExperCommonLisp comes in two varieties: plain (~$200) and chocolate
(~$800). It is an extension to LISP that allows object-oriented programming,
but lacks type-casting features. The debugger works on the compiled code
rather than the interpreted code, which can be puzzling. The expensive version
is supposed to produce stand-alone applications (but I have only used the
language).
Allegro Common LISP falls into the mid-range (~$490). It is also an
extension to Common LISP that allows object-oriented programming, contains
the full type-casting power, and is a better implementation by far. However,
it demands 2 megabytes (5 for us cautious types) and does not yet have the
"stand-alone application" power, though this is promised for the future.
George S. Cole, Esq. GCole@sushi.stanford.edu
793 Nash Av.
Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 322-7760
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