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Questions tagged [lisp]

Lisp is a (family of) general purpose functional programming language(s), based on the lambda calculus, and with the ability to manipulate source code as a data structure.

Introduction

The name LISP derives from "LISt Processing". It was originally created as a practical mathematical notation for computer programs. See wikipedia for more information.

Hello World Program in Lisp

;;; Hello World in Common Lisp

(defun helloworld ()
  (print "Hello World!"))

Popular dialects

Free Lisp Programming Books

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Scheme vs Common Lisp: Which characteristics made a difference in your project?

There are no shortage of vague "Scheme vs Common Lisp" questions on both StackOverflow and on this site, so I want to make this one more focused. The question is for people who have coded in both languages: While coding in Scheme, what specific…
SuperElectric
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Is LISP still useful in today's world? Which version is most used?

I try to teach myself a new programming language in regular intervals of time. Recently, I've read how Lisp and its dialects are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from languages like C/C++, which made me curious enough to know more about…
TCSGrad
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Why is Lisp useful?

Lisp obviously is an advantage for the AI stuff, but it doesn't appear to me that Lisp is any faster than Java, C#, or even C. I am not a master of Lisp, but I find it incredibly difficult to understand the advantage one would get in writing…
Geek
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Why isn't Lisp more widespread?

I am starting to learn Scheme by the SICP videos, and I would like to move to Common Lisp next. The language seems very interesting, and most of the people writings books on it advocate that it has unequaled expressive power. CL seems to have a…
Andrea
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Haskell AND Lisp vs. Haskell OR Lisp

I currently code with C, C++, and Python. I'm wanting to pick up a functional programming language, and right now I'm leaning toward Haskell. I do NOT want to start a "Haskell vs Lisp" war here; what I want to know is this: if I learn Haskell…
Zeke
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Which Common Lisp implementation to use?

There seems to be an immediate problem with starting to develop in Common Lisp: choosing an implementation. What should one take into account, and how much weight should it bear when considering a CL implementation? Should it conform to the ANSI…
anonymous
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How should I start with Lisp?

I've been programming for years now, working my way through various iterations of Blub (BASIC, Assembler, C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, Ruby in no particular order of "Blub-ness") and I'd like to learn Lisp. However, I have a lot of intertia what with…
Gary
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What are the advantages of using LISP and Haskell? Will they make me a better programmer?

I know Lisp and Haskell are logic and functional programming languages respectively, but what exactly does this mean? How do they differ from other languages? I've heard that learning these will make you a better programmer and improve your logic.…
Logan545
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What does your Lisp workflow look like?

I'm learning Lisp at the moment, coming from a language progression that is Locomotive BASIC -> Z80 Assembler -> Pascal -> C -> Perl -> C# -> Ruby. My approach is to simultaneously: write a simple web-scraper using SBCL, QuickLisp, closure-html,…
Duncan Bayne
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C# Dev - I've tried Lisps, but I don't get it

After a few months of learning about and playing with Lisp, both CL and a bit of Clojure, I'm still not seeing a compelling reason to write anything in it instead of C#. I would really like some compelling reasons, or for someone to point out that…
Jonathan Mitchem
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Why is studying a Lisp interpreter in lisp so important?

I have seen many CS curriculums and learning suggestions for new programmers that call for the aspiring programmer to study a Lisp interpreter that is specifically written in Lisp. All these sites say things similar to, "its an intellectual…
Ma-at
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Does Lisp still have any special feature which has NOT been adopted by other programming languages?

Does Lisp still have any special feature which has NOT been adopted by other programming languages? By Lisp, I mean all the Lisp programming languages as a whole. I've been told how amazing Lisp is and know that many languages have been inspired by…
iceX
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Is is preferable to design top down or bottom up?

As I understand, top-down design is by refining the abstract high level concept into smaller concrete and comprehensible parts, until the smallest building block is defined. On the other hand, bottom up defines low level parts, then gradually build…
Amumu
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Problems (such as maintenance) in development with unpopular language

I'm developing some application with clojure(lisp) alone in my team. It starts as small application. No problem. But as it's having features and extending the area, it's becoming important program. I worried about maintenance or something. No one in…
Hybrid
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Would you use (a dialect of) LISP for a real-world application? Where and why?

LISP (and dialects such as Scheme, Common LISP and Clojure) haven't gained much industry support even though they are quite decent programming languages. (At the moment though it seems like they are gaining some traction). Now, this is not directly…
Anto
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