[clpython-devel] calling Lisp from Python and vice versa

[Robert Dodier]

Hello,

I am interested in using CL-Python as a front end for Lisp
libraries. To this end, I wonder how to call a Lisp function
from withing Python. I know you can enter " (foo bar)"
to call a Lisp function, but its return value is not known to
Python. I'd like to be able to do something like "x = foo(bar)".

Couple of questions related to this. How can I reference
Lisp variables from Python and vice versa? Can I use
import to load a Lisp file? After loading the Lisp file, how
do functions and variables in it appear in Lisp --- does the
Lisp package name come into play? What about Lisp
symbols which contain characters not allowed in Python ---
is there a way to escape them? Can a Lisp function return
arbitrary Lisp objects, and if so how are those displayed in
Python?

Thanks a lot to Willem Broekma for inventing and maintaining
CL-Python. I think it's a great idea. My immediate interest
is to use CL-Python as an interface for the symbolic
computation system Maxima which is written in CL.

best,
Robert Dodier