[Ecls-list] Announce: A new C++ based implementation of Common Lisp based on the ECL CL code

[Anton Vodonosov]

[re-posting the message in text, to fix the formatting issue]

05.03.2013, 01:25, "Juan Jose Garcia-Ripoll" <juanjose.garciaripoll at gmail.com>:
> On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 5:30 PM, Christian Schafmeister <chris.schaf at verizon.net> wrote:
>> I've created a new implementation of Common Lisp that has a core written in C++ completely from scratch but hosts the ECL Common Lisp source code.
>
> Sounds like a lot of work.
>
>> It hosts all of the ECL Common Lisp code in the ecl/src/lsp and ecl/src/clos directories of the ECL source tree.
>> I do not use any part of the ECL CL->C compiler or the byte code compiler.
>> I've implemented my own CL interpreter and CL->LLVM-IR->native code compiler.
>
> I do not understand why you reimplemented the interpreter, but the LLVM thingy looks interesting.

As ECL can compiles List to C, a C compiler generating LLVM code may be used
(llvm-gcc or clang).

Juan Jose, Christian, how can you compare Lisp -> C -> LLVM with Lisp -> LLVM
solution to ECL?

My understantind (pure theoretical, I haven't tried any of that):
if ECL can generate LLVM directly, it is a simplification to user, less tools to chain.
But Lisp to LLVM required efforts to implement and will also take mainenance efforts.
Christian, have you compared these options, or you were just guided by interest
to learn/try your own Lisp -> LLVM implementation?

Best regards,
- Anton