Lisp is one of the oldest high-level programming languages in use today (only Fortran is older, by a year).
It's extensibility has allowed it to keep up with developments in language design, structured programming, and software engineering.
Software development in Lisp
- is faster than in C, slower than with authoring tools
- is not limited to a pre-existing toolset
- produces programs 2 to 10 times slower than C
Common Lisp
Common Lisp was designed by a committee (but a pretty smart one) to combine, rationalize, and standardize a number of high-powered, annoyingly incompatible dialects of Lisp.
Other modern dialects include:
- Scheme - used for education, e.g., CS 111 and 211, language design research, and as a small language for applications such as robotics
- LeLisp, EuLisp - European Common Lisps
This course however is in Common Lisp.
Common Lisp (v1) is the original language. Common Lisp (v2) added sophisticated facilities for
- complex iterations (LOOP, SERIES)
- object-oriented programming (CLOS)
- exceptional condition handling
- data-driven pretty-printing