Hi Alex, On Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 11:58 PM, Alexander Burger <a...@software-lab.de> wrote: > Hi Ana, > >> i'm looking for a minimum list of functions to create a lisp >> interpreter (like picolisp :). which ones to master to grok all of the >> other functions that are built on top of the foundation functions? > > Well, this is a question quite often asked in other Lisp groups too. > > I think it is difficult to answer. If you look in Lisp books, you read > that you need 'eval', 'apply', 'cons', 'car', 'cdr' and 'cond'. Then > 'quote', 'set' (perhaps 'setq'), and some predicate functions like > 'atom'. Arithmetic functions might also be useful.
true. this is where i'm starting. been years since i touched lisp and i'm approaching it with a blank slate. > > But for a practical Lisp, you need also I/O functions, which usually > take up the largest part of the interpreter. And the second largest part > is taken by the Lisp execution itself (parameter and variable bindings, > control transfer etc.) true. > > So the functions per se are not the problem. Most built-in functions in > Lisp are quite simple, some even trivial. It is their interplay which > makes up the system. > > Moreover, if you try to stay with an absolute minimal set of built-in > functions, you'll see that the rest of the system will become both very > slow and complicated (as many things are simpler to code in a > lower-level language). > > PicoLisp was designed with such goals in mind (to be minimal in certain > ways), but it tries to keep a balance between minimalism and pragmatism. > > Just my opinion ;-) that's why i'm on *this* list! :) > > Tomas Hlavaty investigated that matter a bit deeper. Perhaps he can tell > us more about his experiences? > > Cheers, > - Alex > -- > UNSUBSCRIBE: mailto:picolisp@software-lab.de?subject=Unsubscribe > -- UNSUBSCRIBE: mailto:picolisp@software-lab.de?subject=Unsubscribe
