FAQ

[nuntius]

This topic is a list of Frequently Asked Questions for the Common Lisp. Please submit suggestions for improved content, and we will edit this first post. Questions and discussion belong in other topics.

First steps:

• Practical Common Lisp is one of the best introductory books
• Dan Weinreb's CL Survey is a good overview of the available implementations (compilers), online books, tutorials, etc.
• As of late 2010, Clozure CL is a good default choice for linux, mac, and windows. Learn CL then look at the others to see their advantages.
• The Common Lisp Hyperspec is an online version of the ANSI language standard.

Editors:

• The Slime plugin for Emacs is currently dominant among free software users. If you don't know emacs, go through the built-in tutorial first. (See also viper-mode for vi users.)
• Vi users may prefer VIlisp or another tool linked on that page.
• Eclipse users may prefer the CUSP plugin
• Franz Allegro CL and LispWorks both come with built-in IDEs.

Libraries:

• Quicklisp is the latest/best "download on demand" library for CL.
• LibCL is a single download containing docs and an integrated set of libraries, but it is not as active right now.
• Many libraries are hosted on Common-Lisp.net and described on Cliki.net or CL-User.net.

How to ask questions:

• Don't post links that look like spam.
• Homework smells like homework. Demonstrate some effort (post some code or cite a section in PCL) and you are much more likely to get help.
• For many "how do I" questions, we need to know the implementation and/or editor you are using. Also try their user email lists for very implementation-specific questions.
• Format code snippets using [code] tags or post them on Lisppaste.

Other sources of information:

• the front page of the CL Cookbook has a large section entitled "Other online sources of CL information"
• ALU Wiki
• Russian web forum
• Lispniks FAQ
• Nikodemus' FAQ

[JamesF]

VIlisp is useful for working with Vim, if your idea of an IDE is an editor plus a terminal in which the REPL is running, and way of funnelling stuff from one to the other (that'd be me).

There are other options for working with Vim, such as Limp and Nekthuth, but I've personally found nothing that works better than this - others' mileage, obviously, is prone to varying wildly.

[findinglisp]

Promoted this to an Announcement.

[dmgenp]

looks like Slimv http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2531 is the most actively developed lisp-ide-like script for VIM now.