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Allegro CL VS Armed Bear Common Lisp

Compare Allegro CL VS Armed Bear Common Lisp and see what are their differences

Allegro CL logo Allegro CL

Leading commercial Enterprise Development Tools and dynamic object-oriented Common Lisp development tools including Allegro CL with AllegroCache, an Object Database that provides Object Persistence in Lisp, native to the Lisp langauge.

Armed Bear Common Lisp logo Armed Bear Common Lisp

Armed Bear Common Lisp (ABCL) is a full implementation of the Common Lisp language featuring both...
  • Allegro CL Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17
  • Armed Bear Common Lisp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-15

Allegro CL features and specs

  • Performance
    Allegro CL is known for its high-performance execution, making it well-suited for complex applications that require efficient computation.
  • Rich Development Environment
    It offers a comprehensive IDE with features like a graphical debugger, advanced code analysis tools, and an interface builder that enhances productivity.
  • Advanced Features
    Allegro CL includes sophisticated features such as an object-oriented database, multi-threading capability, and a robust set of libraries.
  • Dynamic Language
    As a Lisp dialect, it supports dynamic typing, interactive development, and excellent support for iterative and agile software development methodologies.
  • Customer Support
    Franz Inc. provides robust support, including maintenance and professional services, which can be beneficial for enterprises.

Possible disadvantages of Allegro CL

  • Cost
    Allegro CL is a commercial product, which can be expensive compared to free or open-source alternatives, potentially limiting accessibility for hobbyists or small startups.
  • Niche Market
    The use of Lisp and particularly Allegro CL within industry is relatively niche, meaning fewer community resources and third-party integrations compared to more mainstream languages.
  • Learning Curve
    Lisp languages, including Allegro CL, can have a steep learning curve, especially for programmers accustomed to more conventional programming languages.
  • Portability
    While Allegro CL supports various platforms, certain applications or dependencies might not port as seamlessly as with more ubiquitous languages or systems.
  • Modern Language Features
    Although Allegro CL is powerful, it might lack some of the syntactic sugar and modern conveniences found in newer programming languages, potentially affecting developer convenience.

Armed Bear Common Lisp features and specs

  • Java Platform Integration
    Armed Bear Common Lisp (ABCL) runs on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), allowing seamless integration with Java libraries and applications. This makes it easier to reuse existing Java code and tools, and to interact with Java-based environments.
  • Cross-platform Compatibility
    Being JVM-based, ABCL can run on any platform that supports Java, providing excellent cross-platform compatibility. This eliminates the need to worry about platform-specific issues.
  • Rich Library Support
    ABCL can leverage the vast ecosystem of Java libraries, greatly expanding the range of functionality available to Lisp programmers. This makes it more versatile when developing complex applications.
  • Active Development
    ABCL is actively maintained and developed, ensuring it stays up-to-date with improvements and bug fixes. This active development provides confidence in its reliability for production use.

Possible disadvantages of Armed Bear Common Lisp

  • Performance Overheads
    Running on the JVM introduces additional layers, which may result in performance overhead compared to natively compiled Common Lisp implementations. This might be a concern for performance-critical applications.
  • Java Dependency
    ABCL's reliance on the JVM can be a downside if a project's dependencies need to be minimized or if there are licensing issues with using Java in certain environments.
  • Limited Tooling
    Compared to some other Lisp implementations, ABCL might have limited support for Common Lisp-specific development tools and extensions, potentially affecting developer productivity.
  • Complexity of Interoperability
    Although ABCL allows integration with Java, this interoperability can introduce additional complexity, especially if developers are not familiar with the Java ecosystem.

Allegro CL videos

New features in Allegro CL's Common Graphics and the IDE

More videos:

  • Review - Yamaha Allegro Clarinet 550AL Review

Armed Bear Common Lisp videos

No Armed Bear Common Lisp videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Allegro CL and Armed Bear Common Lisp)
IDE
56 56%
44% 44
Programming Language
51 51%
49% 49
OOP
58 58%
42% 42
Text Editors
49 49%
51% 51

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Armed Bear Common Lisp should be more popular than Allegro CL. It has been mentiond 4 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Allegro CL mentions (1)

  • We need to talk about parentheses
    Sure, mainly I mean like, "Lisp's feature X enabled us to do thing Y that we couldn't do in other languages which let us make baller software Z". I think other languages arguably have this stuff: C/C++/Rust have direct hardware access and speed, JavaScript has the browser, etc. It's a little hard for me to pick out exactly what makes Allegro CL [0] good at the AI thing. They do say you can also write rules in... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago

Armed Bear Common Lisp mentions (4)

  • Ask HN: Which Lisp has the best TUI libraries?
    ABCl (Armed Bear Common Lisp) is a Common Lisp that runs in the JVM. https://common-lisp.net/project/armedbear/. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • In your opinion, what functional programming language is most suitable for scientific / numerical computing?
    It would be good to remember that just because something runs on the jvm doesn't mean it's Java. Hell there is a common lisp that runs on the JVM (armored bear common lisp). Source: over 3 years ago
  • Machine Learning in Lisp
    In Common Lisp, - native or FFI, there are a couple of libraries: see https://github.com/CodyReichert/awesome-cl#machine-learning - besides C, there is a way to interface with Java: https://github.com/CodyReichert/awesome-cl#java ; as well as an implementation abcl that runs over JVM - there are two ways to interact with python: https://github.com/CodyReichert/awesome-cl#python - using CFFI vs streams. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Lisp as an Alternative to Java
    Like this? https://common-lisp.net/project/armedbear/. - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Allegro CL and Armed Bear Common Lisp, you can also consider the following products

Steel Bank Common Lisp - Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is a high performance Common Lisp compiler.

CMU Common Lisp - CMUCL is a high-performance, free Common Lisp implementation.

CLISP - CLISP is a portable ANSI Common Lisp implementation and development environment by Bruno Haible.

Clozure Common Lisp - Clozure CL (often called CCL for short) is a free Common Lisp implementation with a long history.

Hy - Hy is a wonderful dialect of Lisp that’s embedded in Python.

ManKai Common Lisp - ManKai Common Lisp (MKCL) aims to be a full implementation of the Common Lisp language in...