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Lisp doesn't really have separate release/debug modes[1]. When you want to distribute a program as a binary, you dump the image and set a custom top-level funct

by juki 9y ago

Lisp doesn't really have separate release/debug modes[1]. When you want to distribute a program as a binary, you dump the image and set a custom top-level function to use instead of the default REPL. The program will still contain the compiler/interpreter and can redefine everything just like during development (altough the program might not use or expose those features to the user). The REPL isn't in any way magical in Lisp; it's just the default option for interacting with the Lisp. [1]: You can ask the Lisp to drop all debug information as an optimization, which makes development impractical, but still possible. Some implementation might allow you to distribute a program without the compiler, but the standard does not specify that.

pjmlp 9y ago
This is why I usually speak of JIT for development and AOT for distribution, as a model.
lispm 9y ago
Lisp doesn't have that in the language standards, but Lisp implementations provide that. Lisp developers had the problem of shipping smaller applications, shipping faster applications to end customers, targetting systems where GC is problematic, or deploying on embedded systems. Lisps with extensive image-based delivery support are for example Allegro CL and LispWorks. Delivery here means also deep cuts into the software like removing parts of the Lisp system (everything development relatied, unused functionality, ...) and also removing parts of the program for the delivered application. For example the running program might not need much of the program's symbols. Functions would be called directly and not through symbols. There are also compilers for application delivery (some are inhouse) which generate self-contained C code. These then are compiled with the usual C compiler and generate small static applications. An example would be mocl, which can compile for Android, iOS and macOS platforms.

by juki 9y ago

pjmlp 9y ago

This is why I usually speak of JIT for development and AOT for distribution, as a model.

lispm 9y ago

Lisp doesn't have that in the language standards, but Lisp implementations provide that. Lisp developers had the problem of shipping smaller applications, shipping faster applications to end customers, targetting systems where GC is problematic, or deploying on embedded systems. Lisps with extensive image-based delivery support are for example Allegro CL and LispWorks. Delivery here means also deep cuts into the software like removing parts of the Lisp system (everything development relatied, unused functionality, ...) and also removing parts of the program for the delivered application. For example the running program might not need much of the program's symbols. Functions would be called directly and not through symbols. There are also compilers for application delivery (some are inhouse) which generate self-contained C code. These then are compiled with the usual C compiler and generate small static applications. An example would be mocl, which can compile for Android, iOS and macOS platforms.