There is a new version of Ready Lisp for Mac OS X available. This version is based on SBCL 1.0.12.17, and requires OS X Leopard 10.5. The most notable change from the previous version is that it is now fully universal, supporting PowerPC and 32- bit and 64-bit Intel machines. Also, threading has been turned on for Intel processor. See the NEWS below.
What is Ready Lisp? It’s a binding together of several popular Lisp packages for OS X, including: Aquamacs, SBCL and SLIME. Once downloaded, you’ll have a single application bundle which you can double-click – and find yourself in a fully configured Common Lisp REPL. It’s ideal for OS X users who want to try out Lisp with a minimum of hassle. The download is approximately 87 megabytes.
There is a GnuPG signature for this file in the same directory; append .asc to the above filename to download it. To install my public key onto your keyring, use this command:
$ gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv 0x824715A0Once installed, you can verify the download using the following command:
$ gpg --verify ReadyLisp-1.0.12-10.5.1.dmg.ascBelow is a full rundown of what’s new.
Now fully universal
Ready Lisp is now fully universal, and runs on the following platforms:
- Intel 64-bit
- Intel 32-bit
- PowerPC 32-bit
There is no port of SBCL to 64-bit PowerPC. Experimental threading has been enabled for both Intel platforms.
Updated versions
The following pieces were updated:
- SBCL, to version 1.0.12.17
- SLIME, to CVS version 2007-12-06
Aquamacs remains at version 1.2a.
Full Info documentation
Info documentation for the Common Lisp pieces is now bundled in. Just type C-h i to read it. Also, when editing Common Lisp files, you can type C-h f to instantly access the HyperSpec index. In Emacs Lisp files, C-h f will get you help on Emacs Lisp functions.
There is also HTML and PDF versions of all documentation in:
Ready Lisp.app/Contents/Resources/htmlReady Lisp.app/Contents/Resources/doc
More libraries
There are a few more Common Lisp libraries bundled in the core file with this release:
CL-FADLOCAL-TIMESERIESMEMOIZECL-PPCRE
I find these libraries very handy, but mainly I’m including them because the upcoming release of my CL-Ledger accounting tool depends on them, so it will work for Ready Lisp users out-of-the-box. See the “doc” subdirectory above for documentation on how to use these libraries (except MEMOIZE, which does not have separate documentation; use memoize:memoize-function to mark a function as memoized).
Lisp newbie here, this sounds great, any way this can be supported on OS X Tiger? Is there something in Leopard that this depends on?
Actually, all that it depends on is me having access to both Intel and PowerPC machines that are running Tiger. SSH access would be enough, if anyone wished to donate time, and was willing to test the result when it’s ready. I’d need to do a separate release for Tiger, otherwise things would get bloated beyond all proportion.