Martins Questions

[Jed Marti <marti@randgr>]

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