4 ms·

Ask YC: Lisp Compiler

12 points by Novash 18y ago

I know Lisp is interpreted (and this is one of its greatest advantages with its eval loop and all it brings), but is there any tool to compile Lisp code? Or to translate it into C++ code to be compiled with a C++ compiler?

gibsonf1 18y ago
Hmm, part of the magic of Lisp comes from compiling the macros. Both Lispworks and SBCL compile Lisp code, and I think SBCL effectively only operates in compiled mode and is very fast. I would guess that most other Lisps compile as well. Being compiled is why Lisp clocks in at speeds roughly the same as C or faster in many cases.
- dpapathanasiou 18y ago
  Being compiled is why Lisp clocks in at speeds roughly the same as C or faster in many cases. While we're on that subject, take a look at "How to make Lisp go faster than C" (http://www.lrde.epita.fr/~didier/research/verna.06.imecs.pdf http://www.lrde.epita.fr/~didier/research/verna.06.imecs.pdf)
maw 18y ago
What you know is wrong. Some lisps are interpreted, some are compiled. SBCL is one of the compiled ones. If you're interested in scheme, bigloo is an option; there are surely others.
dpapathanasiou 18y ago
CMUCL and CLISP both come with compilers; CLISP also has an option to build native executables in addition to bytecode.
brlewis 18y ago
You're confusing "interpreted" and "interactive." A read-eval-print loop can work by compiling the expressions you type in and executing the compiled code.
lst 18y ago
Look at ECL (http://ecls.sourceforge.net/ http://ecls.sourceforge.net/), it compiles to C and can be embedded.
apgwoz 18y ago
Isn't a compiler a required part according to the Common Lisp spec? I'm more of a Scheme guy, so I don't know all 500 pages of the CL doctrine, but I think I remember that... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scheme_compilers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scheme_compilers has a list of Scheme compilers, if you're into that side of things.
mnemonicsloth 18y ago
Many (most?) Schemes are compiled. Chicken Scheme (my favorite) is 'just' an efficient Scheme-to-C compiler, with some optimizations for the "interpreter". Also, there's Stalin, which is one of the most powerful compilers around, in any language. Wikipedia claims that it usually outperforms hand-coded C (which isn't that hard, since C does arrays with pointers and nothing else), sometimes by a lot. There's also Bigloo (which is French and unknown to me), and Gambit, and a whole bunch of Scheme-to-Java compilers as well. Also, I know Scheme48 and PLT Scheme both have compilers, but I don't know much about them. Chicken is so much more hackable. http://callcc.org http://callcc.org
- apgwoz 18y ago
  Scheme48 doesn't have a traditional compiler, but does allow you to create bytecode images, that will run in the virtual machine.
tjr 18y ago
LispWorks can build executables.
- Emmjaykay 18y ago
  Like, kernels?
watmough 18y ago
Clojure is a Lisp that compiles to JVM byte-code as you type in to a REPL, or load-file. Clojure is oriented towards functional style programming and concurrency. Compiled code uses some reflection under the covers, but most of this can be eliminated by type hinting, which gets you into the ball park with Java.

12 points by Novash 18y ago

gibsonf1 18y ago

Hmm, part of the magic of Lisp comes from compiling the macros. Both Lispworks and SBCL compile Lisp code, and I think SBCL effectively only operates in compiled mode and is very fast. I would guess that most other Lisps compile as well. Being compiled is why Lisp clocks in at speeds roughly the same as C or faster in many cases.

dpapathanasiou 18y ago
Being compiled is why Lisp clocks in at speeds roughly the same as C or faster in many cases. While we're on that subject, take a look at "How to make Lisp go faster than C" (http://www.lrde.epita.fr/~didier/research/verna.06.imecs.pdf http://www.lrde.epita.fr/~didier/research/verna.06.imecs.pdf)

maw 18y ago

What you know is wrong. Some lisps are interpreted, some are compiled. SBCL is one of the compiled ones. If you're interested in scheme, bigloo is an option; there are surely others.

dpapathanasiou 18y ago

CMUCL and CLISP both come with compilers; CLISP also has an option to build native executables in addition to bytecode.

brlewis 18y ago

You're confusing "interpreted" and "interactive." A read-eval-print loop can work by compiling the expressions you type in and executing the compiled code.

lst 18y ago

Look at ECL (http://ecls.sourceforge.net/ http://ecls.sourceforge.net/), it compiles to C and can be embedded.

apgwoz 18y ago

Isn't a compiler a required part according to the Common Lisp spec? I'm more of a Scheme guy, so I don't know all 500 pages of the CL doctrine, but I think I remember that... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scheme_compilers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scheme_compilers has a list of Scheme compilers, if you're into that side of things.

mnemonicsloth 18y ago

Many (most?) Schemes are compiled. Chicken Scheme (my favorite) is 'just' an efficient Scheme-to-C compiler, with some optimizations for the "interpreter". Also, there's Stalin, which is one of the most powerful compilers around, in any language. Wikipedia claims that it usually outperforms hand-coded C (which isn't that hard, since C does arrays with pointers and nothing else), sometimes by a lot. There's also Bigloo (which is French and unknown to me), and Gambit, and a whole bunch of Scheme-to-Java compilers as well. Also, I know Scheme48 and PLT Scheme both have compilers, but I don't know much about them. Chicken is so much more hackable. http://callcc.org http://callcc.org

apgwoz 18y ago
Scheme48 doesn't have a traditional compiler, but does allow you to create bytecode images, that will run in the virtual machine.

tjr 18y ago

LispWorks can build executables.

Emmjaykay 18y ago
Like, kernels?

watmough 18y ago

Clojure is a Lisp that compiles to JVM byte-code as you type in to a REPL, or load-file. Clojure is oriented towards functional style programming and concurrency. Compiled code uses some reflection under the covers, but most of this can be eliminated by type hinting, which gets you into the ball park with Java.