Getting started with LISP

Question

Hello,

I have been fascinated towards LISP considering it's not so easy to read syntax and people's (read Paul Graham) claim of it being so awesomely awesome.

Out of curiosity, I tried to get my hands on it. However, after downloading LISP Studio, I haven't been able to get any further.

First, the IDE sucks...its no way near a professional environment to develop applications.

I tried to see if there are other environments available on windows but I haven't had much success.

I think this where the language lost it.

Could you suggest me something that would help me get into the fascinating mysterious world of LISP?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Emacs!

If you want to do LISP, Emacs is the traditional (best?) environment. Combine that with SLIME, and you've got everything you need. Setting up SLIME with Emacs is also quite easy.

Answer 2

Any options for LISP (or Scheme) that don't involve Emacs? I'm not a fan of text editors...

Answer 3

Start out with lisp in a box. Super easy to install on windows so you won't have to worry about getting things setup. Just pick up a copy of On Lisp and Practical Common Lisp, and have at it.

I recommend that because it is super easy. Personally I found Scheme to be nicer, but I don't know about windows versions of any Scheme distros. If you do go the Scheme route The Little Schemer and The SICP are invaluable.

Edit: One thing that came to mind that I've heard people really like as a Scheme IDE that is easy to use is Dr. Scheme

@jko: yeah I just realized that PLT had Dr. Scheme. I haven't used windows in a while so I haven't had to actually install PLT on windows. I'm sure it isn't too much of a hassle though.

Answer 4

@Thomas Owens

How do you program without editing text?

I've done quite a bit of work in LISP and, while there are other options, I've found Emacs consistently to be the best option. Not only is it more stable than the other options, it's a heck of a lot faster, too.

Answer 5

@jko I prefer to use IDEs over text editors.

For example, for C, I have Eclipse pointed at MinGW. Can I do something like that with Eclipse or another IDE and Lisp or Scheme?

Answer 6

A decent lisp compiler is CLISP. It's available on Windows through Cygwin. Another alternative is the popular language Scheme, which is the lisp derivative language used by the popular book Structures and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Answer 7

@Thomas Owens Theoretically, you could use CUSP with Eclipse. Although I've tried a few times on both WinXP and Linux, I've never gotten CUSP to work. Maybe you'll have more luck...

Answer 8

I found Casting SPELs in LISP a very enjoyable experience.

Answer 9

@mk PLT Scheme has a good Windows Scheme distro.

Answer 10

I did the same thing recently, working on a cheap web app (flickr knockoff) in Lisp just to learn the language. I used SBCL on both linux (debian) and windows. And I used vim instead of emacs - the ability to connect right into lisp wasn't enough for me to switch editors, although I can see how if I used lisp more, it would probably be useful. I stuck a copy of the notes that I took (yes I write my notes in LaTeX) here - they might be useful. The tutorial that I used to learn the language was Practical Common Lisp - I thought it was a pretty good teacher.