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From: WHOLEY@CMU-CS-C.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: Common Lisp
Message-ID: <1647@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 2-Jul-84 13:22:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.1647
Posted: Mon Jul  2 13:22:00 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Jul-84 00:07:06 EDT
Lines: 25


           [Forwarded from the CMU bboard by Laws@SRI-AI.]

First of all, there's a CLISP BBoard (C for Common) that things like this
should probably be discussed on.  Since a number of questions were asked in
this forum [CMU bboard], I'll answer them in this forum.

1. DEC is supposedly either doing or planning to do ("real soon now") a port of
DEC Common Lisp to Unix.

2. I'd be wary of any "compatibility" package for Common Lisp in Franz.  There
are a number of complicated Common Lisp features that are somewhat difficult to
implement from the ground up, and I doubt that a "compatability" package can
accurately capture enough to make large Common Lisp programs run.  Such
features include (but are not limited to):
        The package system, which provides one with separate namespaces,
        Lexical scoping of variables (upward and downward "funargs"),
        Multiple value returns from functions,
        Arrays with fill pointers, adjustable arrays, and displaced arrays.

3. Golden Common Lisp from Gold Hill Computers is a subset of Common Lisp for
the IBM PC.  It is intended more as a teaching tool than a full Common Lisp
programming environment, although one could certainly write useful programs in
it (much as one can write useful programs in BASIC).  It is certainly the
finest microcomputer Lisp around.