Disclaimer: DO NOT attempt to use this project for any production code whatsoever. This project is still VERY young; if there were such a thing as negative version numbers, it would have one. For now, js-lisp is a toy. It is my hope that js-lisp will one day grow up to become a solid library that developers around the world can use to safely get their Lisp fix while they get their JavaScript fix, but until that time, DO NOT use this in production code (and if you do, I'm not responsible for the craziness that will most certainly ensue thereafter).
js-lisp is a lisp interpreter written in 100% JavaScript, and thus usable in any (supported) browser or JavaScript runtime without the need for plugins or add-ons of any kind.
js-lisp is fully interoperable with existing JavaScript code (meaning you don't need to modify your existing JavaScript code in order to use js-lisp alongside it). You can call any JavaScript function just as you would a function defined specifically for the lisp environment. As an example:
// Inside JavaScript
window.object = {
myFunction: function () { ... }
};
;; Inside lisp
(object.myFunction ...)
(window.object.myFunction ...)
Step 1: Include js-lisp
Include the js-lisp code (lisp.js inside /build/).
<script src="/path/to/lisp.js"></script>
Step 2: Include your lisp code
<script type="text/javascript">
lisp.load("/path/to/code.lisp");
lisp.load("/path/to/more-code.lisp");
</script>
The functions, macros, and variables created for the lisp environment are documented in /docs/. They are also up on the live demo: http://williambowers.net/projects/js-lisp/docs/.
New documentation can be created by running rake doc.
You can play around with the repl here: http://williambowers.net/projects/js-lisp/examples/repl/.
The REPL is located at /examples/repl/ (follow the steps under the section "How do I view the tests and html documentation?" to start a simple webserver at the root of the project), and works just like any other REPL. The console emulator is a modified version of jquery-console.
Here are a few shots of the REPL, and js-lisp, in action:
There's also a command line version of the REPL written in node.js at /examples/noderepl/. You can run it like this (you must be inside the /examples/noderepl/ directory):
$ node run.js
or this:
$ ./noderepl
And I suggest using rlwrap (for readline support):
$ rlwrap node run.js
# or
$ rlwrap ./noderepl
Have fun!
Currently, it's a very basic lisp that doesn't even run on Cons lists (it runs on JavaScript Arrays behind the scenes). The focus so far has been on going through the Common Lisp spec and porting as many applicable constructs as possible, but the language has already strayed from CL in a couple of ways (view the CL port document at /docs/port/, after running rake webserver).
The options are to make a lisp just for JavaScript, as Clojure has done for Java, or to port an existing lisp (CL, Scheme, etc).
Unless you want to make modifications to js-lisp, the files you care about are:
This project comes with a little helper script that runs a SimpleHTTPServer (Python) at the project root, displaying the main html page of the project's documentation.
The web server makes available the test suite, documentation, and all of the examples contained within this project.
First thing, make sure you init and update the submodules after cloning this project:
git submodule init
git submodule update
Next, you'll need to install rake in order to run the command that starts the webserver:
gem install rake
Now start the server:
rake webserver
The webserver will be located at localhost:8000 (or 127.0.0.1:8000 if that doesn't work).
If you're feeling adventurous enough to modify js-lisp, there's one specific rake command you'll want to run:
rake watch
js-lisp, the project, is actually a bunch of JavaScript files that are all combined into one when the project is built. rake watch will run a program that automatically builds the project when there are modifications anywhere under the /src/ directory. This will make development go much faster for you.
If you feel like building the project manually, its
rake build
and for the minified version:
rake minify
Also, if you add any new javascript files, make sure to add them to the lisp.js list in /build.yaml so they will get compiled into the final /build/lisp.js file.
Ok, you misunderstood me. js-lisp is young. Really young. Having said that, it works. Pretty well actually. It's also got a pretty solid test suite, with a lot of code coverage. On top of that, 99% of the test code is actually written in lisp and interpreted by js-lisp. So use it. Do awesome things with it. Share it with your friends. Share what you're doing with me. Just don't use it in production code. js-lisp is not stable, and I guarantee you that your users would find all the bugs I haven't found yet. And be mad at you.
The following is a list of browsers where all of the examples worked and all of the tests passed, the last time that browser was checked.
OS X Snow Leopard
- Chrome 5 (first stable mac release)
- Safari 4
- Firefox 3.5
Windows Vista
- Chrome 5
- Firefox 3.5
Linux, 2.6.33-ARCH
- Chrome 5
- Firefox 3.7 (nightly)