4 ms·

> When you capitalize lisp as in Lisp, that usually refers to Common Lisp Since when? Lisp is, and has almost always been, a family of languages.

• medo-bear 5y ago
  I think it's a convention, but I could well be wrong. Maybe it refers to LISP. But maybe it's wrong too. Nonetheless, the lisp being discussed in this thread is Common Lisp
  • gmfawcett 5y ago
    Quite the opposite I'd say... in my experience, Lispers tend to say "Lisp" when they are being inclusive of the whole family of languages & its philosophies. This convention began way back in pre-Common Lisp days, when there was literally no common standard: much as we say "Unix" to refer to the family of related-but-different OS's that once proliferated. Generally I've seen capitalized LISP used only to refer to the original language, from McCarthy's lab (e.g., versions 1 and 1.5). By the time Interlisp landed in the late 60's, the all-caps convention has already begun to slip. That's not to disagree with your own experiences: I just suspect they are "regional", so to speak, and not reflective of the larger Lisp community.
    • medo-bear 5y ago
      > I just suspect they are "regional", so to speak, and not reflective of the larger Lisp community yeah i think there is definitely a component of that which led to my claim. i think it is better that 'lisp' should refer to a whole family of languages when context is not obvious. even when context is clear it is helpful to distinguish what lisp one is talking about in order to avoid ambiguity