Introduction To Lisp

Introduction to LISP
John McCarthy invented LISP in 1958, shortly after the development of

FORTRAN. It was first implemented by Steve Russell on an IBM 704
computer.
It is particularly suitable for Artificial Intelligence programs, as it processes

symbolic information effectively.
Common Lisp originated, during the 1980s and 1990s, in an attempt to

unify the work of several implementation groups that were successors to
Maclisp, like ZetaLisp and NIL (New Implementation of Lisp) etc.
It serves as a common language, which can be easily extended for specific

implementation.
Programs written in Common LISP do not depend on machine-specific

characteristics, such as word length etc.
Features of Common LISP

 It is machine-independent
 It uses iterative design methodology, and easy extensibility.
 It allows updating the programs dynamically.
 It provides high level debugging.
 It provides advanced object-oriented programming.
 It provides a convenient macro system.
 It provides wide-ranging data types like, objects, structures, lists,

vectors, adjustable arrays, hash-tables, and symbols.
 It is expression-based.
 It provides an object-oriented condition system.
 It provides a complete I/O library.
 It provides extensive control structures.
Applications Built in LISP

Large successful applications built in Lisp.
 Emacs
 G2
 AutoCad
 Igor Engraver
 Yahoo Store
LISP expressions are called symbolic expressions or s-expressions. The s-

expressions are composed of three valid objects, atoms, lists and strings.
Any s-expression is a valid program.
LISP programs run either on an interpreter or as compiled code.
The interpreter checks the source code in a repeated loop, which is also
called the read-evaluate-print loop (REPL). It reads the program code,
evaluates it, and prints the values returned by the program.
A Simple Program
Let us write an s-expression to find the sum of three numbers 7, 9 and 11.
To do this, we can type at the interpreter prompt.
(+ 7 9 11)
LISP returns the result −

27
If you would like to run the same program as a compiled code, then create a
LISP source code file named myprog.lisp and type the following code in it.
(write (+ 7 9 11))
When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, LISP executes it
immediately and the result returned is −
27
LISP Uses Prefix Notation

You might have noted that LISP uses prefix notation.
In the above program the + symbol works as the function name for the
process of summation of the numbers.
In prefix notation, operators are written before their operands. For example,
the expression,
a * ( b + c ) / d
will be written as −
(/ (* a (+ b c) ) d)
Let us take another example, let us write code for converting Fahrenheit
temp of 60o F to the centigrade scale −
The mathematical expression for this conversion will be −
(60 * 9 / 5) + 32
Create a source code file named main.lisp and type the following code in it.
(write(+ (* (/ 9 5) 60) 32))
immediately and the result returned is−
140
Evaluation of LISP Programs

Evaluation of LISP programs has two parts −
 Translation of program text into Lisp objects by a reader program
 Implementation of the semantics of the language in terms of these

objects by an evaluator program
The evaluation process takes the following steps −
 The reader translates the strings of characters to LISP objects or s-

expressions.
 The evaluator defines syntax of Lisp forms that are built from s-
expressions. This second level of evaluation defines a syntax that
determines which s-expressions are LISP forms.
 The evaluator works as a function that takes a valid LISP form as an

argument and returns a value. This is the reason why we put the LISP
expression in parenthesis, because we are sending the entire
expression/form to the evaluator as arguments.
The 'Hello World' Program
Learning a new programming language doesn't really take off until you learn
how to greet the entire world in that language, right!
So, please create new source code file named main.lisp and type the
following code in it.
(write-line "Hello World")
(write-line "I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP")
Hello World
I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP
Basic Building Blocks in LISP

LISP programs are made up of three basic building blocks −
 atom
 list
 string
An atom is a number or string of contiguous characters. It includes

numbers and special characters.
Following are examples of some valid atoms −
hello-from-tutorials-point
name
123008907
*hello*
Block#221
abc123
A list is a sequence of atoms and/or other lists enclosed in parentheses.

Following are examples of some valid lists −
( i am a list)
(a ( a b c) d e fgh)
(father tom ( susan bill joe))
(sun mon tue wed thur fri sat)
( )
A string is a group of characters enclosed in double quotation marks.
Following are examples of some valid strings −
" I am a string"
"a ba c d efg #$%^&!"
"Please enter the following details :"
"Hello from 'Tutorials Point'! "
Adding Comments
The semicolon symbol (;) is used for indicating a comment line.
For Example,
(write-line "Hello World") ; greet the world
; tell them your whereabouts
(write-line "I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP")
Hello World
I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP
Following are some of the important points to note −
 The basic numeric operations in LISP are +, -, *, and /
 LISP represents a function call f(x) as (f x), for example cos(45) is

written as cos 45
 LISP expressions are case-insensitive, cos 45 or COS 45 are same.
 LISP tries to evaluate everything, including the arguments of a

function. Only three types of elements are constants and always
return their own value
o Numbers
o The letter t, that stands for logical true.
o The value nil, that stands for logical false, as well as an empty
list.
The evaluation process of LISP code takes the following steps.
 The reader translates the strings of characters to LISP objects or s-

expressions.
 The evaluator defines syntax of Lisp forms that are built from s-
expressions. This second level of evaluation defines a syntax that
determines which s-expressions are LISP forms.
Now, a LISP forms could be.
 An Atom
 An empty or non-list
 Any list that has a symbol as its first element
The evaluator works as a function that takes a valid LISP form as an

argument and returns a value. This is the reason why we put the LISP
expression in parenthesis, because we are sending the entire
expression/form to the evaluator as arguments.
Naming Conventions in LISP

Name or symbols can consist of any number of alphanumeric characters
other than whitespace, open and closing parentheses, double and single
quotes, backslash, comma, colon, semicolon and vertical bar. To use these
characters in a name, you need to use escape character (\).
A name can have digits but not entirely made of digits, because then it
would be read as a number. Similarly a name can have periods, but can't be
made entirely of periods.
Use of Single Quotation Mark

LISP evaluates everything including the function arguments and list
members.
At times, we need to take atoms or lists literally and don't want them
evaluated or treated as function calls.
To do this, we need to precede the atom or the list with a single quotation
mark.
The following example demonstrates this.
Create a file named main.lisp and type the following code into it.
(write-line "single quote used, it inhibits evaluation")
(write '(* 2 3))
(write-line " ")
(write-line "single quote not used, so expression evaluated")
(write (* 2 3))
single quote used, it inhibits evaluation
(* 2 3)
single quote not used, so expression evaluated
6

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Introduction To Lisp

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Introduction to LISP

John McCarthy invented LISP in 1958, shortly after the development of

It is particularly suitable for Artificial Intelligence programs, as it processes

Common Lisp originated, during the 1980s and 1990s, in an attempt to

It serves as a common language, which can be easily extended for specific

Programs written in Common LISP do not depend on machine-specific

Features of Common LISP

 It uses iterative design methodology, and easy extensibility.

 It allows updating the programs dynamically.

 It provides high level debugging.

 It provides advanced object-oriented programming.

 It provides a convenient macro system.

 It provides wide-ranging data types like, objects, structures, lists,

 It provides an object-oriented condition system.

 It provides a complete I/O library.

 It provides extensive control structures.

Applications Built in LISP

LISP expressions are called symbolic expressions or s-expressions. The s-

Any s-expression is a valid program.

LISP programs run either on an interpreter or as compiled code.

LISP returns the result −

LISP Uses Prefix Notation

The mathematical expression for this conversion will be −

(write(+ (* (/ 9 5) 60) 32))

Evaluation of LISP Programs

 Translation of program text into Lisp objects by a reader program

 Implementation of the semantics of the language in terms of these

The evaluation process takes the following steps −

 The reader translates the strings of characters to LISP objects or s-

 The evaluator works as a function that takes a valid LISP form as an

(write-line "Hello World")

(write-line "I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP")

I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP

Basic Building Blocks in LISP

An atom is a number or string of contiguous characters. It includes

Following are examples of some valid atoms −

A list is a sequence of atoms and/or other lists enclosed in parentheses.

(father tom ( susan bill joe))

(sun mon tue wed thur fri sat)

A string is a group of characters enclosed in double quotation marks.

Following are examples of some valid strings −

"a ba c d efg #$%^&!"

"Please enter the following details :"

"Hello from 'Tutorials Point'! "

(write-line "Hello World") ; greet the world

; tell them your whereabouts

(write-line "I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP")

I am at 'Tutorials Point'! Learning LISP

Following are some of the important points to note −

 The basic numeric operations in LISP are +, -, *, and /

 LISP represents a function call f(x) as (f x), for example cos(45) is

 LISP tries to evaluate everything, including the arguments of a

o The letter t, that stands for logical true.

The evaluation process of LISP code takes the following steps.

 The reader translates the strings of characters to LISP objects or s-

Now, a LISP forms could be.

 Any list that has a symbol as its first element

The evaluator works as a function that takes a valid LISP form as an