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20 KiB
Common Lisp
692 lines
20 KiB
Common Lisp
---
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language: "Common Lisp"
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filename: commonlisp.lisp
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contributors:
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- ["Paul Nathan", "https://github.com/pnathan"]
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- ["Rommel Martinez", "https://ebzzry.io"]
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---
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Common Lisp is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language suited for a wide variety of
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industry applications. It is frequently referred to as a programmable programming language.
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The classic starting point is [Practical Common Lisp](http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/). Another
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popular and recent book is [Land of Lisp](http://landoflisp.com/). A new book about best practices,
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[Common Lisp Recipes](http://weitz.de/cl-recipes/), was recently published.
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```lisp
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 0. Syntax
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; General form
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;;; CL has two fundamental pieces of syntax: ATOM and S-EXPRESSION.
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;;; Typically, grouped S-expressions are called `forms`.
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10 ; an atom; it evaluates to itself
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:thing ; another atom; evaluating to the symbol :thing
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t ; another atom, denoting true
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(+ 1 2 3 4) ; an s-expression
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'(4 :foo t) ; another s-expression
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;;; Comments
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;;; Single-line comments start with a semicolon; use four for file-level
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;;; comments, three for section descriptions, two inside definitions, and one
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;;; for single lines. For example,
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;;;; life.lisp
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;;; Foo bar baz, because quu quux. Optimized for maximum krakaboom and umph.
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;;; Needed by the function LINULUKO.
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(defun meaning (life)
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"Return the computed meaning of LIFE"
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(let ((meh "abc"))
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;; Invoke krakaboom
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(loop :for x :across meh
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:collect x))) ; store values into x, then return it
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;;; Block comments, on the other hand, allow for free-form comments. They are
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;;; delimited with #| and |#
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#| This is a block comment which
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can span multiple lines and
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#|
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they can be nested!
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|#
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|#
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;;; Environment
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;;; A variety of implementations exist; most are standards-conformant. SBCL
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;;; is a good starting point. Third party libraries can be easily installed with
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;;; Quicklisp
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;;; CL is usually developed with a text editor and a Read Eval Print
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;;; Loop (REPL) running at the same time. The REPL allows for interactive
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;;; exploration of the program while it is running "live".
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 1. Primitive datatypes and operators
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; Symbols
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'foo ; => FOO Notice that the symbol is upper-cased automatically.
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;;; INTERN manually creates a symbol from a string.
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(intern "AAAA") ; => AAAA
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(intern "aaa") ; => |aaa|
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;;; Numbers
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9999999999999999999999 ; integers
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#b111 ; binary => 7
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#o111 ; octal => 73
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#x111 ; hexadecimal => 273
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3.14159s0 ; single
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3.14159d0 ; double
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1/2 ; ratios
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#C(1 2) ; complex numbers
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;;; Function application are written as (f x y z ...) where f is a function and
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;;; x, y, z, ... are the arguments.
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(+ 1 2) ; => 3
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;;; If you want to create literal data, use QUOTE to prevent it from being
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;;; evaluated
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(quote (+ 1 2)) ; => (+ 1 2)
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(quote a) ; => A
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;;; The shorthand for QUOTE is '
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'(+ 1 2) ; => (+ 1 2)
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'a ; => A
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;;; Basic arithmetic operations
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(+ 1 1) ; => 2
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(- 8 1) ; => 7
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(* 10 2) ; => 20
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(expt 2 3) ; => 8
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(mod 5 2) ; => 1
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(/ 35 5) ; => 7
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(/ 1 3) ; => 1/3
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(+ #C(1 2) #C(6 -4)) ; => #C(7 -2)
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;;; Booleans
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t ; true; any non-NIL value is true
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nil ; false; also, the empty list: ()
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(not nil) ; => T
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(and 0 t) ; => T
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(or 0 nil) ; => 0
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;;; Characters
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#\A ; => #\A
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#\λ ; => #\GREEK_SMALL_LETTER_LAMDA
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#\u03BB ; => #\GREEK_SMALL_LETTER_LAMDA
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;;; Strings are fixed-length arrays of characters
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"Hello, world!"
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"Benjamin \"Bugsy\" Siegel" ; backslash is an escaping character
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;;; Strings can be concatenated
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(concatenate 'string "Hello, " "world!") ; => "Hello, world!"
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;;; A string can be treated like a sequence of characters
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(elt "Apple" 0) ; => #\A
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;;; FORMAT is used to create formatted output, which ranges from simple string
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;;; interpolation to loops and conditionals. The first argument to FORMAT
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;;; determines where will the formatted string go. If it is NIL, FORMAT
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;;; simply returns the formatted string as a value; if it is T, FORMAT outputs
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;;; to the standard output, usually the screen, then it returns NIL.
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(format nil "~A, ~A!" "Hello" "world") ; => "Hello, world!"
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(format t "~A, ~A!" "Hello" "world") ; => NIL
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 2. Variables
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; You can create a global (dynamically scoped) variable using DEFVAR and
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;;; DEFPARAMETER. The variable name can use any character except: ()",'`;#|\
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;;; The difference between DEFVAR and DEFPARAMETER is that re-evaluating a
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;;; DEFVAR expression doesn't change the value of the variable. DEFPARAMETER,
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;;; on the other hand, does.
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;;; By convention, dynamically scoped variables have earmuffs in their name.
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(defparameter *some-var* 5)
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*some-var* ; => 5
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;;; You can also use unicode characters.
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(defparameter *AΛB* nil)
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;;; Accessing a previously unbound variable results in an UNBOUND-VARIABLE
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;;; error, however it is defined behavior. Don't do it.
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;;; You can create local bindings with LET. In the following snippet, `me` is
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;;; bound to "dance with you" only within the (let ...). LET always returns
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;;; the value of the last `form` in the LET form.
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(let ((me "dance with you")) me) ; => "dance with you"
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------;
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;;; 3. Structs and collections
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------;
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;;; Structs
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(defstruct dog name breed age)
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(defparameter *rover*
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(make-dog :name "rover"
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:breed "collie"
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:age 5))
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*rover* ; => #S(DOG :NAME "rover" :BREED "collie" :AGE 5)
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(dog-p *rover*) ; => T
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(dog-name *rover*) ; => "rover"
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;;; DOG-P, MAKE-DOG, and DOG-NAME are all automatically created by DEFSTRUCT
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;;; Pairs
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;;; CONS constructs pairs. CAR and CDR return the head and tail of a CONS-pair.
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(cons 'SUBJECT 'VERB) ; => '(SUBJECT . VERB)
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(car (cons 'SUBJECT 'VERB)) ; => SUBJECT
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(cdr (cons 'SUBJECT 'VERB)) ; => VERB
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;;; Lists
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;;; Lists are linked-list data structures, made of CONS pairs and end with a
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;;; NIL (or '()) to mark the end of the list
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(cons 1 (cons 2 (cons 3 nil))) ; => '(1 2 3)
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;;; LIST is a convenience variadic constructor for lists
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(list 1 2 3) ; => '(1 2 3)
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;;; When the first argument to CONS is an atom and the second argument is a
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;;; list, CONS returns a new CONS-pair with the first argument as the first
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;;; item and the second argument as the rest of the CONS-pair
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(cons 4 '(1 2 3)) ; => '(4 1 2 3)
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;;; Use APPEND to join lists
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(append '(1 2) '(3 4)) ; => '(1 2 3 4)
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;;; Or CONCATENATE
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(concatenate 'list '(1 2) '(3 4)) ; => '(1 2 3 4)
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;;; Lists are a very central type, so there is a wide variety of functionality for
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;;; them, a few examples:
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(mapcar #'1+ '(1 2 3)) ; => '(2 3 4)
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(mapcar #'+ '(1 2 3) '(10 20 30)) ; => '(11 22 33)
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(remove-if-not #'evenp '(1 2 3 4)) ; => '(2 4)
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(every #'evenp '(1 2 3 4)) ; => NIL
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(some #'oddp '(1 2 3 4)) ; => T
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(butlast '(subject verb object)) ; => (SUBJECT VERB)
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;;; Vectors
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;;; Vector's literals are fixed-length arrays
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#(1 2 3) ; => #(1 2 3)
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;;; Use CONCATENATE to add vectors together
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(concatenate 'vector #(1 2 3) #(4 5 6)) ; => #(1 2 3 4 5 6)
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;;; Arrays
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;;; Both vectors and strings are special-cases of arrays.
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;;; 2D arrays
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(make-array (list 2 2)) ; => #2A((0 0) (0 0))
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(make-array '(2 2)) ; => #2A((0 0) (0 0))
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(make-array (list 2 2 2)) ; => #3A(((0 0) (0 0)) ((0 0) (0 0)))
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;;; Caution: the default initial values of MAKE-ARRAY are implementation-defined.
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;;; To explicitly specify them:
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(make-array '(2) :initial-element 'unset) ; => #(UNSET UNSET)
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;;; To access the element at 1, 1, 1:
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(aref (make-array (list 2 2 2)) 1 1 1) ; => 0
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;;; This value is implementation-defined:
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;;; NIL on ECL, 0 on SBCL and CCL.
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;;; Adjustable vectors
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;;; Adjustable vectors have the same printed representation as
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;;; fixed-length vector's literals.
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(defparameter *adjvec* (make-array '(3) :initial-contents '(1 2 3)
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:adjustable t :fill-pointer t))
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*adjvec* ; => #(1 2 3)
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;;; Adding new elements
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(vector-push-extend 4 *adjvec*) ; => 3
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*adjvec* ; => #(1 2 3 4)
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;;; Sets, naively, are just lists:
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(set-difference '(1 2 3 4) '(4 5 6 7)) ; => (3 2 1)
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(intersection '(1 2 3 4) '(4 5 6 7)) ; => 4
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(union '(1 2 3 4) '(4 5 6 7)) ; => (3 2 1 4 5 6 7)
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(adjoin 4 '(1 2 3 4)) ; => (1 2 3 4)
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;;; However, you'll need a better data structure than linked lists when working
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;;; with larger data sets
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;;; Dictionaries are implemented as hash tables.
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;;; Create a hash table
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(defparameter *m* (make-hash-table))
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;;; Set value
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(setf (gethash 'a *m*) 1)
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;;; Retrieve value
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(gethash 'a *m*) ; => 1, T
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;;; CL expressions have the ability to return multiple values.
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(values 1 2) ; => 1, 2
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;;; which can be bound with MULTIPLE-VALUE-BIND
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(multiple-value-bind (x y)
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(values 1 2)
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(list y x))
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; => '(2 1)
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;;; GETHASH is an example of a function that returns multiple values. The first
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;;; value it return is the value of the key in the hash table; if the key is
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;;; not found it returns NIL.
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;;; The second value determines if that key is indeed present in the hash
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;;; table. If a key is not found in the table it returns NIL. This behavior
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;;; allows us to check if the value of a key is actually NIL.
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;;; Retrieving a non-present value returns nil
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(gethash 'd *m*) ;=> NIL, NIL
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;;; You can provide a default value for missing keys
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(gethash 'd *m* :not-found) ; => :NOT-FOUND
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;;; Let's handle the multiple return values here in code.
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(multiple-value-bind (a b)
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(gethash 'd *m*)
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(list a b))
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; => (NIL NIL)
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(multiple-value-bind (a b)
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(gethash 'a *m*)
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(list a b))
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; => (1 T)
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 3. Functions
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; Use LAMBDA to create anonymous functions. Functions always returns the
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;;; value of the last expression. The exact printable representation of a
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;;; function varies between implementations.
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(lambda () "Hello World") ; => #<FUNCTION (LAMBDA ()) {1004E7818B}>
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;;; Use FUNCALL to call anonymous functions
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(funcall (lambda () "Hello World")) ; => "Hello World"
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(funcall #'+ 1 2 3) ; => 6
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;;; A call to FUNCALL is also implied when the lambda expression is the CAR of
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;;; an unquoted list
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((lambda () "Hello World")) ; => "Hello World"
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((lambda (val) val) "Hello World") ; => "Hello World"
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;;; FUNCALL is used when the arguments are known beforehand. Otherwise, use APPLY
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(apply #'+ '(1 2 3)) ; => 6
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(apply (lambda () "Hello World") nil) ; => "Hello World"
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;;; To name a function, use DEFUN
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(defun hello-world () "Hello World")
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(hello-world) ; => "Hello World"
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;;; The () in the definition above is the list of arguments
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(defun hello (name) (format nil "Hello, ~A" name))
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(hello "Steve") ; => "Hello, Steve"
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;;; Functions can have optional arguments; they default to NIL
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(defun hello (name &optional from)
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(if from
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(format t "Hello, ~A, from ~A" name from)
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(format t "Hello, ~A" name)))
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(hello "Jim" "Alpacas") ; => Hello, Jim, from Alpacas
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;;; The default values can also be specified
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(defun hello (name &optional (from "The world"))
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(format nil "Hello, ~A, from ~A" name from))
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(hello "Steve") ; => Hello, Steve, from The world
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(hello "Steve" "the alpacas") ; => Hello, Steve, from the alpacas
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;;; Functions also have keyword arguments to allow non-positional arguments
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(defun generalized-greeter (name &key (from "the world") (honorific "Mx"))
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(format t "Hello, ~A ~A, from ~A" honorific name from))
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(generalized-greeter "Jim")
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; => Hello, Mx Jim, from the world
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(generalized-greeter "Jim" :from "the alpacas you met last summer" :honorific "Mr")
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; => Hello, Mr Jim, from the alpacas you met last summer
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 4. Equality
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; CL has a sophisticated equality system. Some are covered here.
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;;; For numbers, use `='
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(= 3 3.0) ; => T
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(= 2 1) ; => NIL
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;;; For object identity (approximately) use EQL
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(eql 3 3) ; => T
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(eql 3 3.0) ; => NIL
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(eql (list 3) (list 3)) ; => NIL
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;;; for lists, strings, and bit-vectors use EQUAL
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(equal (list 'a 'b) (list 'a 'b)) ; => T
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(equal (list 'a 'b) (list 'b 'a)) ; => NIL
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 5. Control Flow
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; Conditionals
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(if t ; test expression
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"this is true" ; then expression
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"this is false") ; else expression
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; => "this is true"
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;;; In conditionals, all non-NIL values are treated as true
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(member 'Groucho '(Harpo Groucho Zeppo)) ; => '(GROUCHO ZEPPO)
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(if (member 'Groucho '(Harpo Groucho Zeppo))
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'yep
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'nope)
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; => 'YEP
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;;; COND chains a series of tests to select a result
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(cond ((> 2 2) (error "wrong!"))
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((< 2 2) (error "wrong again!"))
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(t 'ok)) ; => 'OK
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;;; TYPECASE switches on the type of the value
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(typecase 1
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(string :string)
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(integer :int))
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; => :int
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;;; Looping
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;;; Recursion
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(defun fact (n)
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(if (< n 2)
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1
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(* n (fact(- n 1)))))
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(fact 5) ; => 120
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;;; Iteration
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(defun fact (n)
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(loop :for result = 1 :then (* result i)
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:for i :from 2 :to n
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:finally (return result)))
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(fact 5) ; => 120
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(loop :for x :across "abcd" :collect x)
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; => (#\a #\b #\c #\d)
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(dolist (i '(1 2 3 4))
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(format t "~A" i))
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; => 1234
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 6. Mutation
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; Use SETF to assign a new value to an existing variable. This was
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;;; demonstrated earlier in the hash table example.
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(let ((variable 10))
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(setf variable 2))
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; => 2
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;;; Good Lisp style is to minimize the use of destructive functions and to avoid
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;;; mutation when reasonable.
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; 7. Classes and objects
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;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;;; No more animal classes. Let's have Human-Powered Mechanical
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;;; Conveyances.
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(defclass human-powered-conveyance ()
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((velocity
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:accessor velocity
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:initarg :velocity)
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(average-efficiency
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:accessor average-efficiency
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:initarg :average-efficiency))
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(:documentation "A human powered conveyance"))
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|
|
;;; The arguments to DEFCLASS, in order are:
|
|
;;; 1. class name
|
|
;;; 2. superclass list
|
|
;;; 3. slot list
|
|
;;; 4. optional specifiers
|
|
|
|
;;; When no superclass list is set, the empty list defaults to the
|
|
;;; standard-object class. This *can* be changed, but not until you
|
|
;;; know what you're doing. Look up the Art of the Metaobject Protocol
|
|
;;; for more information.
|
|
|
|
(defclass bicycle (human-powered-conveyance)
|
|
((wheel-size
|
|
:accessor wheel-size
|
|
:initarg :wheel-size
|
|
:documentation "Diameter of the wheel.")
|
|
(height
|
|
:accessor height
|
|
:initarg :height)))
|
|
|
|
(defclass recumbent (bicycle)
|
|
((chain-type
|
|
:accessor chain-type
|
|
:initarg :chain-type)))
|
|
|
|
(defclass unicycle (human-powered-conveyance) nil)
|
|
|
|
(defclass canoe (human-powered-conveyance)
|
|
((number-of-rowers
|
|
:accessor number-of-rowers
|
|
:initarg :number-of-rowers)))
|
|
|
|
;;; Calling DESCRIBE on the HUMAN-POWERED-CONVEYANCE class in the REPL gives:
|
|
|
|
(describe 'human-powered-conveyance)
|
|
|
|
; COMMON-LISP-USER::HUMAN-POWERED-CONVEYANCE
|
|
; [symbol]
|
|
;
|
|
; HUMAN-POWERED-CONVEYANCE names the standard-class #<STANDARD-CLASS
|
|
; HUMAN-POWERED-CONVEYANCE>:
|
|
; Documentation:
|
|
; A human powered conveyance
|
|
; Direct superclasses: STANDARD-OBJECT
|
|
; Direct subclasses: UNICYCLE, BICYCLE, CANOE
|
|
; Not yet finalized.
|
|
; Direct slots:
|
|
; VELOCITY
|
|
; Readers: VELOCITY
|
|
; Writers: (SETF VELOCITY)
|
|
; AVERAGE-EFFICIENCY
|
|
; Readers: AVERAGE-EFFICIENCY
|
|
; Writers: (SETF AVERAGE-EFFICIENCY)
|
|
|
|
;;; Note the reflective behavior available. CL was designed to be an
|
|
;;; interactive system
|
|
|
|
;;; To define a method, let's find out what our circumference of the
|
|
;;; bike wheel turns out to be using the equation: C = d * pi
|
|
|
|
(defmethod circumference ((object bicycle))
|
|
(* pi (wheel-size object)))
|
|
|
|
;;; PI is defined as a built-in in CL
|
|
|
|
;;; Let's suppose we find out that the efficiency value of the number
|
|
;;; of rowers in a canoe is roughly logarithmic. This should probably be set
|
|
;;; in the constructor/initializer.
|
|
|
|
;;; To initialize your instance after CL gets done constructing it:
|
|
|
|
(defmethod initialize-instance :after ((object canoe) &rest args)
|
|
(setf (average-efficiency object) (log (1+ (number-of-rowers object)))))
|
|
|
|
;;; Then to construct an instance and check the average efficiency...
|
|
|
|
(average-efficiency (make-instance 'canoe :number-of-rowers 15))
|
|
; => 2.7725887
|
|
|
|
|
|
;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
;;; 8. Macros
|
|
;;;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
;;; Macros let you extend the syntax of the language. CL doesn't come
|
|
;;; with a WHILE loop, however, it's trivial to write one. If we obey our
|
|
;;; assembler instincts, we wind up with:
|
|
|
|
(defmacro while (condition &body body)
|
|
"While `condition` is true, `body` is executed.
|
|
`condition` is tested prior to each execution of `body`"
|
|
(let ((block-name (gensym)) (done (gensym)))
|
|
`(tagbody
|
|
,block-name
|
|
(unless ,condition
|
|
(go ,done))
|
|
(progn
|
|
,@body)
|
|
(go ,block-name)
|
|
,done)))
|
|
|
|
;;; Let's look at the high-level version of this:
|
|
|
|
(defmacro while (condition &body body)
|
|
"While `condition` is true, `body` is executed.
|
|
`condition` is tested prior to each execution of `body`"
|
|
`(loop while ,condition
|
|
do
|
|
(progn
|
|
,@body)))
|
|
|
|
;;; However, with a modern compiler, this is not required; the LOOP form
|
|
;;; compiles equally well and is easier to read.
|
|
|
|
;;; Note that ``` is used, as well as `,` and `@`. ``` is a quote-type operator
|
|
;;; known as quasiquote; it allows the use of `,` . `,` allows "unquoting"
|
|
;;; variables. @ interpolates lists.
|
|
|
|
;;; GENSYM creates a unique symbol guaranteed to not exist elsewhere in
|
|
;;; the system. This is because macros are expanded at compile time and
|
|
;;; variables declared in the macro can collide with variables used in
|
|
;;; regular code.
|
|
|
|
;;; See Practical Common Lisp and On Lisp for more information on macros.
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Further reading
|
|
|
|
- [Practical Common Lisp](http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/)
|
|
- [Common Lisp: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/LispBook/book.pdf)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Extra information
|
|
|
|
- [CLiki](http://www.cliki.net/)
|
|
- [common-lisp.net](https://common-lisp.net/)
|
|
- [Awesome Common Lisp](https://github.com/CodyReichert/awesome-cl)
|
|
- [Lisp Lang](http://lisp-lang.org/)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Credits
|
|
|
|
Lots of thanks to the Scheme people for rolling up a great starting
|
|
point which could be easily moved to Common Lisp.
|
|
|
|
- [Paul Khuong](https://github.com/pkhuong) for some great reviewing.
|