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CLISP VS CMU Common Lisp

Compare CLISP VS CMU Common Lisp and see what are their differences

CLISP logo CLISP

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

CMU Common Lisp logo CMU Common Lisp

CMUCL is a high-performance, free Common Lisp implementation.
  • CLISP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-03-19
  • CMU Common Lisp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-15

CLISP features and specs

  • Cross-platform compatibility
    CLISP is available on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux, which makes it versatile and accessible for developers across different operating systems.
  • GNU Licensing
    Being licensed under the GNU General Public License, CLISP is free to use, modify, and distribute, which is beneficial for open-source projects and encourages community contributions.
  • Interpreter environment
    CLISP offers an interactive interpreter environment, allowing for rapid testing and prototyping of code, which can speed up development and debugging processes.
  • ANSI Common Lisp compliance
    CLISP adheres to the ANSI Common Lisp standard, ensuring that programs written in CLISP are compliant with the standard and thus more portable and reliable.

Possible disadvantages of CLISP

  • Performance limitations
    Compared to other Lisp implementations like SBCL, CLISP might exhibit slower performance, which can be a drawback for computation-heavy applications.
  • Limited support for external libraries
    CLISP may have limited or less convenient access to certain external libraries or advanced features compared to other implementations, potentially making integration with other systems or technologies more challenging.
  • Outdated documentation
    Some of CLISP's documentation and resources might be outdated, which can pose challenges for new users trying to learn and resolve issues using the available materials.
  • Less active community
    Compared to more popular Lisp systems, CLISP might have a smaller or less active community, which can result in fewer community-contributed resources or slower developments and updates.

CMU Common Lisp features and specs

  • High-Performance Compiler
    CMU Common Lisp features an efficient native code compiler that can produce highly optimized code for the supported platforms, enhancing performance for computationally-intensive applications.
  • Extensive Library Support
    Includes a wide variety of libraries, providing functionality ranging from numerical computing to system interfacing, which allows developers to implement diverse applications without relying heavily on external packages.
  • Strong Typing System
    CMUCL provides a strong type system with good error detection and optimization capabilities that can help catch errors at compile-time and improve runtime performance.
  • Garbage Collection
    It includes an efficient garbage collector that manages memory naturally, minimizing manual intervention and reducing memory leaks and fragmentation in applications.
  • Comprehensive Integrated Development Environment
    CMUCL comes with an integrated environment which includes a debugger, inspector, and an interface for efficient development and troubleshooting.

Possible disadvantages of CMU Common Lisp

  • Limited Platform Support
    The number of platforms explicitly supported by CMUCL is limited, which can be a constraint for developers who need to work across multiple or newer systems.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Newcomers might find CMUCL challenging due to its complexity and the intricate features specific to Lisp, requiring a steep learning curve compared to more modern languages and environments.
  • Outdated Documentation
    Some users find the documentation to be outdated or not comprehensive enough, making it difficult to get started and fully leverage the system's capabilities.
  • Limited Community Support
    The user and contributor community for CMUCL is relatively small compared to other languages and projects, which may result in less frequent updates and fewer third-party resources.
  • Complex Setup Process
    Initial setup and configuration of CMUCL can be cumbersome, especially for users not familiar with Lisp environments or those who require specific custom configurations.

CLISP videos

GNU CLISP - Brief introduction to install and setup of an artificially intelligent environment

CMU Common Lisp videos

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

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CLISP and CMU Common Lisp)
Programming Language
51 51%
49% 49
OOP
52 52%
48% 48
IDE
49 49%
51% 51
Text Editors
45 45%
55% 55

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CLISP seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time 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.

CLISP mentions (1)

  • What are the advantages for an imperative language to not be expression based?
    CLisp is an unfortunate contraction, also naming an implementation, but yes, the Common Lisp spec is that big. Source: over 2 years ago

CMU Common Lisp mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of CMU Common Lisp yet. Tracking of CMU Common Lisp recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CLISP and CMU 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.

Racket Lang - Racket (formerly PLT Scheme) is a modern programming language in the Lisp/Scheme family, suitable...

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.

Armed Bear Common Lisp - Armed Bear Common Lisp (ABCL) is a full implementation of the Common Lisp language featuring both...

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