Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ManKai Common Lisp VS Steel Bank Common Lisp

Compare ManKai Common Lisp VS Steel Bank Common Lisp and see what are their differences

ManKai Common Lisp logo ManKai Common Lisp

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

Steel Bank Common Lisp logo Steel Bank Common Lisp

Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is a high performance Common Lisp compiler.
  • ManKai Common Lisp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-20
  • Steel Bank Common Lisp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-24

ManKai Common Lisp features and specs

  • Compatibility
    ManKai Common Lisp (MKCL) is designed to be ABI compatible with other Common Lisp implementations, which facilitates easier integration and code sharing across different environments.
  • Performance
    MKCL offers efficient performance that can be suitable for both small scripts and large systems, making it versatile for different project needs.
  • Portability
    MKCL is available on multiple platforms, supporting various operating systems which ensure that code can be easily transferred and run in different environments.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, MKCL allows developers to review, modify, and contribute to its source code, supporting community engagement and transparency.

Possible disadvantages of ManKai Common Lisp

  • Community Size
    The user and developer community around MKCL might be smaller compared to more popular Common Lisp implementations, potentially leading to less readily available support and resources.
  • Feature Set
    While MKCL aims for compatibility and performance, it may lack some of the advanced features found in other, more established Common Lisp environments.
  • Documentation
    The documentation for MKCL might not be as comprehensive or up-to-date as other Lisp environments, which could hinder learning and troubleshooting for new users.

Steel Bank Common Lisp features and specs

  • Performance
    Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is known for its high-performance execution due to its native code compiler, which optimizes and speeds up Lisp code execution significantly.
  • Standards Compliance
    SBCL is largely standard-compliant with Common Lisp, ensuring that code written for SBCL is portable across other Common Lisp implementations.
  • Actively Maintained
    The project is actively maintained and updated, which means it benefits from regular improvements, bug fixes, and up-to-date features.
  • Robust Debugging Tools
    SBCL offers robust debugging tools and a powerful REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop), which aid developers in interactive programming and troubleshooting.
  • Free and Open Source
    SBCL is open-source and available for free, which allows developers to use, modify, and distribute the software under the terms of the license.

Possible disadvantages of Steel Bank Common Lisp

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, especially those unfamiliar with Lisp or functional programming paradigms, learning SBCL can be challenging.
  • Platform Dependency
    While SBCL is available on multiple platforms, certain features and optimizations are specific to particular operating systems, which can affect portability.
  • Limited Built-in Libraries
    SBCL does not come with a broad range of built-in libraries compared to some other modern languages, which may require additional effort for library management.
  • Verbose Syntax
    Common Lisp, and by extension SBCL, is known for its verbose syntax, which can be cumbersome compared to newer, more concise programming languages.
  • Community Size
    The SBCL community, while active, is smaller compared to those of other mainstream programming languages, potentially limiting the availability of resources and community support.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ManKai Common Lisp and Steel Bank Common Lisp)
Programming Language
33 33%
67% 67
IDE
38 38%
62% 62
OOP
36 36%
64% 64
Text Editors
37 37%
63% 63

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Steel Bank Common Lisp seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 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.

ManKai Common Lisp mentions (0)

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

Steel Bank Common Lisp mentions (5)

  • Not only Clojure – Chez Scheme: Lisp with native code speed
    Tangential: if we're talking Lisp and native code speed, Steel Bank Common Lisp (by default) compiles everything to machine code. [0] https://sbcl.org. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • A few newbie questions about lisp
    Q5: Get http://sbcl.org/. Install https://quicklisp.org/. SBCL is the implementation that's the lowest friction, and Quicklisp is a package manager that's almost* painless. Source: about 2 years ago
  • [C++20][safety] static_assert is all you need (no leaks, no UB)
    That is what we do in Lisp. Try sbcl if you haven't tried it yet. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Trying to wrap my head around `xbps-src`
    I want to add the sbcl-doc subpackage (the manual for SBCL in GNU Info format), but first I need to understand how to write package definitions. As far as I understand there are the "templates" which are shell scripts that describe how a package is to be built and installed, and xbps-src is a shell script which can process these templates to actually carry out the work. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: Areas in Programming to Avoid
    > Lisp looks like Python, that's far from C, and usually it's a "interpreted" language, far from machine the currently most popular Common Lisp implementation is based around an optimizing native code compiler. That compiler has its roots in the early 80s. See https://sbcl.org . It's far away from being 'interpreted'. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ManKai Common Lisp and Steel Bank Common Lisp, you can also consider the following products

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

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

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

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.

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

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