https://github.com/fogus/lithp

McCarthy's Lisp in Python with macros. A celebration of 50+ years of symbolic processing.
https://github.com/fogus/lithp

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McCarthy's Lisp in Python with macros. A celebration of 50+ years of symbolic processing.

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/fogus/lithp
• Owner: fogus
• License: mit
• Created: 2008-12-17T03:14:52.000Z (almost 16 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2023-08-18T17:49:42.000Z (about 1 year ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-11-08T03:53:17.555Z (10 days ago)
• Topics: langdev
• Language: Python
• Homepage: http://fogus.me/fun/lithp
• Size: 141 KB
• Stars: 260
• Watchers: 6
• Forks: 28
• Open Issues: 5
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • License: LICENSE

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README

        
Lithp is a(nother) McCarthy Lisp interpreter (with macros implemented in Lithp) written in the Python Programming Language.

*note: currently only the Python port is fully operational*

RIP John McCarthy 1927.09.04 - 2011.10.23

RIP Timothy Hart 1939.09.18  - 2014.01.20

What The?!?

===========

My last true exposure to Lisp was during my college years.  Since then I have hacked away at a bit of ELisp, but even that was done in the spirit of immediacy.  With the resurgence of Lisp, thanks to the advocacy of [Mr. Paul Graham](http://www.paulgraham.com), I feel it is once again time to (re)learn the language.  However, times have changed; I have written my recursive algorithms, I have explored the beauty of closures, and I have touched on functional programming with the grace and emotion of a lover.  However, I fear that if I simply take up the task of (re)learning Lisp then I will take these notions for granted and not appreciate them fully as they relate to Lisp itself.  Therefore, I feel that my best chance for truly absorbing Lisp is the invent Lisp.  While the leg-work has already been done by such luminaries as [Mr. McCarthy][jmc], [Mr. Steele][steele], and [Mr. Sussman][sussman], it is my intention to approach their works as if they are newly minted and implement them within the Lithp interpreter.

[steele]: http://research.sun.com/people/mybio.php?uid=25706

[jmc]: http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc

[sussman]: http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/~gjs

Features

========

The Lithp interpreter provides the absolute core functions of McCarthy's original as outlined in his classical paper.  That is, there are only seven functions and two special forms.

Seven Functions

---------------

1.  `atom`

2.  `car`

3.  `cdr`

4.  `cond`

5.  `cons`

6.  `eq`

7.  `quote`

Two Special Forms

------------------

1. `label`

2. `lambda`

Running

=======

    cd src/py

	python lithp.py

License

=======

This software is provided as-is under the [MIT license](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).