How did you find newLISP?

[ale870]

Hello, this is my first post.

I discovered newLisp in Rebol mailing list.

I'm a professional programmer, and newLisp seems really impressive.

Now I'm concentrating my few resources in newLisp, Java, rich client development (I want to do that in newLisp ;-) ).

I almost finished "introduction to newLisp", then I will "attak" the official manual.



Good newLisp to everybody :-)

[cormullion]

Greetings!

I almost finished "introduction to newLisp"

me too :-)

[tom]

I really don't remember how I found newlisp.  I think the discovery was obscurely related to rebol.  It really irritates me that I don't know newlisp better than I do.  I think I'll go back over the introduction myself.  



There was a "languages" thread in the arch linux forum, in which somebody asked what everybody used.  I said newlisp, somebody else asked why.  I haven't replied yet...

[Dmi]

I've found newLISP in a post in http://www.linux.org.ru/">//http://www.linux.org.ru/

[cormullion]

There was a "languages" thread in the arch linux forum, in which somebody asked what everybody used. I said newlisp, somebody else asked why. I haven't replied yet...

I wonder what sort of 'why' the questioner was asking. There's a "why the hell do you bother with a completely broken non-standard dialect of the world's greatest programming language when there's nothing wrong with ..." sort. And then there's the "why do you use the language and will it be a good thing for me, given that we're both in this forum..." sort.



(My experience of internet forums tempts me to favour the former sort. :-)

[tom]

What do you like about that one? I wasn't impressed by it, but I haven't actually heard from any of its fans yet.

Sounds like he's at least a little bit open about it.

[cormullion]

Hope so!



For me, the coolest things about newLISP are that it runs on most platforms and OSes, it's dedicated to keeping everything simple, and that the community is very helpful.



From the Arch Linux home page:

a lightweight and flexible linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

...

Our strong community is diverse and helpful, and we pride ourselves on the range of skillsets and uses for Arch that stem from it.

So - just like newLISP!

[ax0n]

I worked with Lutz for a few months, and I've been hooked ever since :)

[DrDave]

I read a recent article about Common LISP and decided to check it out. I run WIN XP and wanted to find a freeware version to evaluate, so I went on a Google search. I settled on one that required an activation code sent via email. Well, it CHOKED on my GMAIL account, so as instructed, I sent an email to verify this was a legitimate email address. NO REPLY!!! So much for THAT implementation.



So, back to Google and I saw newLISP. Read the propaganda, err..., home page text, and liked seeing that it was SMALL., and even though interpreted, actually has decent performance. Then noted the forum is active and that there are regular updates.



I really don't care about whatever bashing the purist Common LISP or Schemer's blather about it. The way I see it, it is s LISt Processing language, so that makes it a LISP dialect, period.



DrDave

[Elica]

newBert is the person who introduced newLISP to me.

[lithper]

Thanks, that was interesting to read.



I found newLisp very recently, but cannot remember where. I was going through a number of implementations, and when found newLisp, was really struck by how well thought-out the package was, that I could do scripting immediately, that documentation is informal, modern (full of examples and cookbook recipies, rathern than the insane formality from 1970s with "big" lisps).

All APIs were there, the tiny standalone executable could be started in tens of copies or used to distribute scripts between machines - I was fascinated by how well thought-out it was, as I already said. A true hacker's tool in the original sense of this word.



ow to make it more popular?

I try to mention newLisp where I can, but  cannot say I succeeded much so far.



One way could be to write (why do not we pool our efforts together here?) some article under a good catchy title and publish it in some Linux on-line magazine, the Perl Journal or similar (under the guise of comparison with the perl approach or sth) , push NewLisp as "perl 6 that is already here" ( that is the way I think of NewLisp myself, in my head - this is much of what I would dream perl6 to be - but for the problem that perl6 is NOT except as a fantasy, and it's completely unknown when it could get born into the world )



I'd try to find a well-known sysadmin, linux and/or scripting language on-line publication and try to write a series or a column there.



..maybe also write some "newLisp poetry" - like that Perl "poetry", when the text of the program that parses OK reads like a poem ;))

[Tim Johnson]

In 2004, I posted a question to a scheme mailing list, said a little about

my needs and solicited comments for a recommended scheme.

An individual on this list, who also codes in CL, scheme and prolog

mentioned newlisp. It has been just in last few months tho', that I

have been seriously learning newlisp.



I currently also code in Python, rebol, and javascript. After many years

coding in C/C++, I pretty much retired that codeset in 2001.

[hsmyers]

I got here from a URL on Hacker News. I've been quite happy ever since. And while I'm implementing my current project(porting my CPAN PGN: modules) in both newLisp and common lisp(clisp [I think] via slime and emacs) and will eventually get around to scheme, ruby and python, I've got to tell you that newLisp wins hands down. The multiple languages help me make improvements across the board and is an excellent way to keep familiar with any changes there might be.

As an longtime autolisp programmer I was always searching for lisp-alternatives running outside autocad but fairly compatibel with autolisp.

At that time (around 2001/2002) I evaluated every lisp I get my fingers on. (xlisp,corman-lisp,Lispworks etc.)

HPW, do you remember in your evaluations how much xlisp resembled autolisp— just wondering how much divergence there has been since Walker borrowed xlisp from Betz(sp?)?



–hsm

p.s. I started with AutoCad 1.4, haven't done much since 200i...

[Tim Johnson]

I programmed autolisp a bit in 1993-1994. An experience that I think opened my mind to newlisp.



I _do_ believe that python might be a better choice for a team programming environment where there are multiple programmers working on the same codebase. I attribute that opinion to python's stricter engineering OOP approach and scoping. It isn't an issue for me, however, as in my company, my partner and I work on different code bases - he's a perl monger...



Given that the rebol developer's are indifferent to 64-bit issues and rebol is not open source - it is likely that where I would be otherwise working in rebol, I will soon be working in newlisp.

[Jeff]

Python is nice for many things, but I prototype even faster in newLISP.  I use Python for many of our main applications, but I am finding that in many cases, I end up using newLISP or common lisp due to their speed.