Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!think!barmar
From: barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Unix Lisp Environments (why the slow evolution)
Message-ID: <40215@think.UUCP>
Date: 6 May 89 00:21:04 GMT
References: <7802@zodiac.UUCP>
Sender: news@think.UUCP
Reply-To: barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 30

In article <7802@zodiac.UUCP> jdye@ads.com (John W. Dye Jr.) writes:
>2)  The window systems keep changing.  First there was sunview. Then there
>    were X and NeWS.  Now there is (soon) a NeWS/X merge (with suntools
>    support also).  Developers of lisp programming environments have had
>    to program on a moving target (the window systems).  Unfortunately,
>    most of the neat stuff that lisp programming environments do are
>    window based (window-debuggers, fancy editors). 

The solution to this is coming soon.  International Lisp Associates
and Symbolics are developing a package called Y-Windows, which
provides very high-level window-based user interface facilities (it's
basically a clone of Symbolics's Dynamic Windows and Command Processor
facilities) in a number of Common Lisp implementations.  The
interfaces to this are mostly independent of the underlying window
system.  I think the prototype currently runs in Lucid Lisp using CLX,
Allegro CL using Quickdraw, Symbolics Common Lisp using the Genera
window system, and Symbolics CLOE using MS-Windows.  If a new window
system comes along, I imagine it is relatively straightforward to
write another driver.  Everything but drivers for
implementation-dependent window systems (e.g. Macintosh Quickdraw) is
written in portable Common Lisp.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with ILA and Symbolics, except as a
satisfied customer.

Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
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