Re: another frustrating learner question, CLOS

On Feb 25, 2:13 pm, refun <re...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <dac96124-4225-4a4d-bdf9-13f4e0537...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
oraclmas...@xxxxxxxxx says...





On Feb 25, 11:45 am, ccc31807 <carte...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Feb 25, 11:34 am, Zach Beane <x...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

I make my living as a Perl programmer, munging data. Perl doesn't have
an interactive environment like the Lisp REPL. However, the cycle of
writing, testing, and running code is almost identical.

Not in my experience.

Maybe that's a function of working habits rather than languages or
programming environments. I have developed a habit of write-switch-
run, and this is true with Perl, C, Java, and Lisp (although Java is
different in that I customarily write test cases for classes before I
write the class so I am not strictly running the code directly.)

I sometimes see Perl environments corrupted by unexpected PATH or
PERLLIB environment variables, leading to running an unexpected version
of Perl or an unexpected version of a module.

I have been fortunate to control every machine that I have developed
on, so I've never had this particular problem, but with Java, yes, you
have to fiddle with the environment, e.g., CLASSPATH.

CC.

Tangentially on the OP,

Since I am learning Lisp and CLOS in particular, what would be the
best, most direct route to doing so? The least painful method? Also
the cheapest method? One that doesn't involve enrolling in school or
taking classes?

There's lots of resources out there in the form of online tutorials,
code examples, etc for learning CLOS syntax, etc, but is there some
simple resource available that conveniently catalogs functions and
classes, their parameters, their uses, which packages they belong to
etc...?

I've been programming in Lisp for several months now, in depth, and I
still have a hard time tracking down function names, class names,
etc...through apropos, describe, and the various other documentation
functions built into the REPL (I currently have clisp and ccl
installed along with SLIME), and it is a real pain to track down
functions that often have incomplete or sparse documentation if it
exists.

Often, it is through simple trial and error that I find functions for
which I spent the last few hair pulling days that already exist in the
existing Lisp packages, negating a lot of my work moot. It would be
nice if the documenation and usage of all functions and classes in the
standard user package and CLOS were documented mainly so I don't waste
time writing something that already exists in a package.

Forgive me if this is already the case, and if it is then point me in
that direction.

Do you have a copy of the Hyperspec installed locally, so you can easily look
up standard CL functions in it from SLIME? Each chapter's dictionary is a good
point to look for functions related to some domain.
Obviously this is only for the COMMON-LISP package, if you're interested in the
MOP, read AMOP, otherwise for other packages you'll want to consult the library
documentation, as it usually comes with one. Another very helpful thing is
having source access to your implementation and library and using M-. in SLIME
to see how something is implemented, which usually gives you a better
understanding of things (especially when it comes to libraries other people
made).

I don't think so. The hyperspec is the collection of documents that is
supposed to come up when you type (describe 'symbol-name) right? All
that does is bring up a URL that I have to cut and paste onto a web
browser.

I've been programming Lisp for only a little over two months, so how
do I find out if it is installed locally? And then install it?


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: another frustrating learner question, CLOS
    ... an interactive environment like the Lisp REPL. ... PERLLIB environment variables, leading to running an unexpected version ... etc...through apropos, describe, and the various other documentation ... existing Lisp packages, negating a lot of my work moot. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: another frustrating learner question, CLOS
    ... an interactive environment like the Lisp REPL. ... PERLLIB environment variables, leading to running an unexpected version ... etc...through apropos, describe, and the various other documentation ... existing Lisp packages, negating a lot of my work moot. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: another frustrating learner question, CLOS
    ... an interactive environment like the Lisp REPL. ... PERLLIB environment variables, leading to running an unexpected version ... etc...through apropos, describe, and the various other documentation ... existing Lisp packages, negating a lot of my work moot. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: another frustrating learner question, CLOS
    ... PERLLIB environment variables, ... etc...through apropos, describe, and the various other documentation ... the existing Lisp packages, negating a lot of my work moot. ... And then install it? ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: another frustrating learner question, CLOS
    ... an interactive environment like the Lisp REPL. ... PERLLIB environment variables, leading to running an unexpected version ... etc...through apropos, describe, and the various other documentation ... existing Lisp packages, negating a lot of my work moot. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)