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Martins Questions
- To: cl-subsets@su-ai
- Subject: Martins Questions
- From: Jed Marti <marti@randgr>
- Date: 20 Nov 84 09:25:20 PST (Tue)
1. What LISP or LISPs do you currently use?
| PSL mainly, some Franz and Interlisp.
2. Are you primarily a user or an implementor?
| User.
3. For those of you who are currently using non-common LISP's, such as
InterLISP, FranzLISP, PSL, etc, what is your plan for Common LISP?
| For some projects where speed is of the essence, ignore it, unless
| something is done about efficiency. We plan simulations with large
| numbers of objects (like 10,000) and need the utmost in efficiency
| out of our small machines (SUN's).
4. If you are a common LISP user or implementor, do you have a plan to
provide a compatibility route for "foreign" LISPS, such as by
mechanical translation, or compatibility module?
| We have a machanical translator which currently operates between
| Interlisp, Franz Lisp, and PSL, as well as one under construction
| from Standard Lisp '79 to Common Lisp.
5. If your plan includes the identification of a subset CL
(perhaps because you only need or can only afford to implement
a subset on your machine, in your compatibility module, or
your translator),
could you summarize what criteria you are using to define your subset?
| Implementors Hat: Efficiency and speed of compilation. Features which
| slow down the generated object code will be looked at very carefully.
| Initially this includes the extendable arrays, and the four different
| floating point representations. A second criteria is frequency of use.
| The address space of the 8086, precludes a large library of seldom
| used functions. To this end we propose to make the complex and rational
| data structures part of a "load on call" library.
6. For what reasons might you consider a subset?
| Three reasons: small, weak, and obsolete machines such as the IBM PC, and
| the Apple MacIntosh. Efficiency! Efficiency!
7. Do you see a single subset as sufficient, or do you envision a family
of subsets, appropriate for different reasons?
| Possibly two subsets: An efficient subset, and an educational subset
| (maybe this should be a superset).
8. Do you have a subset proposal ready to present to this group, or are
you working on one?
| As part of the Standard Lisp user group, I have done some work in
| identifying problems with Standard Lisp to Common Lisp translation.
Jed Marti MARTI@RAND-UNIX