Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]


Groups > comp.lang.lisp > #60742 > unrolled thread

Resources to learn common lisp?

Started byMario Rosell <mario@mariorosell.es>
First post2026-02-20 22:53 +0100
Last post2026-06-03 03:16 +0000
Articles 20 on this page of 164 — 20 participants

Back to article view | Back to comp.lang.lisp


Contents

  Resources to learn common lisp? Mario Rosell <mario@mariorosell.es> - 2026-02-20 22:53 +0100
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2026-02-20 22:00 +0000
      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Mario Rosell <mario@mariorosell.es> - 2026-02-21 12:25 +0100
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-02-21 10:24 -0500
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-21 21:30 +0000
          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Mario Rosell <mario@mariorosell.es> - 2026-02-22 01:08 +0100
            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-22 04:59 +0000
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Madhu <enometh@meer.net> - 2026-02-22 10:59 +0530
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-22 21:48 +0000
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 12:43 -0400
          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 12:41 -0400
            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-08 20:02 +0000
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 00:23 -0400
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-09 06:28 +0000
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-09 06:32 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 12:27 -0400
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-11 17:33 +0000
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 12:16 -0400
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-09 06:53 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Axel Reichert <mail@axel-reichert.de> - 2026-06-09 12:07 +0200
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 00:14 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-17 00:01 -0400
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-17 05:53 +0000
                        [OT] Disappearing documentation (was: Re: Resources to learn common lisp?) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-17 09:06 +0100
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-11 17:22 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-13 13:59 -0700
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 00:55 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-14 01:43 -0700
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 05:45 +0000
            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-09 00:35 +0000
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-08 12:37 -0400
          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-09 00:33 +0000
            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-09 00:22 -0400
            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> - 2026-06-09 01:22 -0400
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-09 06:17 +0000
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-09 06:50 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 12:40 -0400
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-11 00:26 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 22:10 -0400
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-16 21:37 -0700
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Joerg Mertens <joerg-mertens@t-online.de> - 2026-06-17 12:04 +0200
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-06-17 11:17 +0000
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-17 13:57 +0000
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-18 01:06 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-18 09:17 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-18 13:32 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-18 14:21 -0700
                                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-06-19 08:12 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-18 12:53 -0400
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> - 2026-06-18 21:28 -0400
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2026-06-11 05:27 -0400
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 22:12 -0400
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-10 12:24 -0400
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2026-06-11 05:57 -0400
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> - 2026-06-11 21:07 -0400
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-12 13:06 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-13 00:13 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-13 07:25 +0000
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-13 08:25 +0000
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-13 08:46 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-13 08:52 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 05:57 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-15 10:10 +0100
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 05:56 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-16 11:46 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-18 01:03 +0000
                                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-18 07:52 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 20:56 -0400
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> - 2026-06-13 00:55 -0400
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-13 07:43 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 21:37 -0400
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-13 13:09 -0700
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 01:02 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-16 10:12 +0000
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 22:54 -0400
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> - 2026-06-17 00:07 -0400
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-17 08:33 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-12 12:42 +0000
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 23:32 -0400
            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-09 09:36 -0400
              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 00:06 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-10 08:43 -0400
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-11 00:22 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-11 08:57 -0400
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-12 00:16 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 21:42 -0400
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-15 01:15 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-15 05:42 +0000
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-15 11:19 +0000
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-16 00:18 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-16 03:27 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-16 01:25 -0700
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-17 10:13 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-18 13:57 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-18 01:11 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-18 02:30 -0700
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-18 09:32 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-18 14:15 +0000
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 23:53 -0400
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-17 05:55 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-17 01:43 -0700
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-18 01:07 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2026-06-11 06:37 -0400
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-13 13:30 -0700
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 00:58 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-14 01:46 -0700
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2026-06-15 06:59 -0400
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-15 12:25 -0700
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-11 17:42 +0000
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-12 00:16 +0000
                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-12 12:34 +0000
                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-13 00:11 +0000
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2026-06-13 04:06 -0400
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-13 13:37 -0700
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-06-13 21:25 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-13 15:26 -0700
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 05:37 +0000
                                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-15 01:34 +0000
                                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-15 05:43 +0000
                                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-15 11:23 +0000
                                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-16 00:23 +0000
                                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-16 03:29 +0000
                                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-16 04:59 +0000
                                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-16 15:10 -0700
                                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-16 13:34 +0000
                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-13 08:36 +0000
                          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 01:43 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-14 10:36 -0400
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 23:55 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-14 18:04 -0700
                                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-16 12:33 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-15 09:51 -0400
                                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-16 00:23 +0000
                                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-16 03:14 -0700
                                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-16 15:29 -0700
                                    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-16 10:23 -0400
                                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-16 21:34 -0700
                                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-17 15:02 -0400
                                      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-18 04:14 +0000
                                        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2026-06-18 12:44 -0400
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-14 13:14 -0700
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-18 02:30 +0000
                            Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-16 11:46 +0000
                              Re: Resources to learn common lisp? antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-06-18 15:34 +0000
                                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-19 07:01 +0000
                Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-06-13 13:22 -0700
                  Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-14 01:55 +0000
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tpeplt <tpeplt@gmail.com> - 2026-02-20 17:44 -0500
      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Mario Rosell <mario@mariorosell.es> - 2026-02-21 12:30 +0100
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-02-20 23:50 +0000
      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-02-21 00:24 +0000
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Andreas Eder <a_eder_muc@web.de> - 2026-02-21 11:36 +0100
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Mario Rosell <mario@mariorosell.es> - 2026-02-21 12:44 +0100
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-03-31 17:47 -0400
      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-03-31 23:41 +0000
      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? tpeplt <tpeplt@gmail.com> - 2026-04-01 13:23 -0400
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-16 21:59 -0400
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Peri Didaskalou <pfd@torfree.net> - 2026-05-01 10:52 -0400
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Peri Didaskalou <pfd@torfree.net> - 2026-05-01 10:57 -0400
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Peri Didaskalou <pfd@torfree.net> - 2026-05-01 11:06 -0400
    Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-01 14:56 -0400
      Re: Resources to learn common lisp? "Robert B. Carleton" <rbc@rbcarleton.net> - 2026-06-01 23:02 +0000
        Re: Resources to learn common lisp? steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 21:32 -0400
          Re: Resources to learn common lisp? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-03 03:16 +0000

Page 4 of 9 — ← Prev page 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9  Next page →


#60871

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-13 08:52 +0000
Message-ID<110j5nr$2qajs$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60870
tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Chapter 23 of the manual.

22, sorry.


-- 
tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60889

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-06-14 05:57 +0000
Message-ID<110lfsf$3dqkh$7@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60871
On Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:52:11 -0000 (UTC), tfb wrote:

> tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> Chapter 23 of the manual.
>
> 22, sorry.

The table of contents uses one numbering, the pages themselves use
another!

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60904

FromNuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-15 10:10 +0100
Message-ID<110ofib$7l4s$2@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60889
On 2026-06-14, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

> On Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:52:11 -0000 (UTC), tfb wrote:
>
>> tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> Chapter 23 of the manual.
>>
>> 22, sorry.
>
> The table of contents uses one numbering, the pages themselves use
> another!

What was between §Compiler and §DWIM? It kind of looks like a Chapter 19
went missing?

-- 
Nuno Silva

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60888

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-06-14 05:56 +0000
Message-ID<110lfr8$3dqkh$6@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60870
On Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:46:48 -0000 (UTC), tfb wrote:

> Lawrence D´Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
>
>> So they must have had some kind of global lock to ensure the
>> reference counts stayed correct, like Python’s soon-to-be-extinct
>> GIL?
>
> I don't know. That stuff was all in microcode I think. And unlike
> Python it wasn't someone's 'my first big program' so chances are it
> was quite a lot cleverer.

I would say not. Remember, multiprocessor machines were not exactly
common back then. So a multithreaded architecture with a global lock
would have been considered perfectly adequate on the hardware of the
time, since only a single thread could be executing at any point
anyway.

>> I searched for “threading” and “multithread”, and found nothing.
>
> Lisps have traditionally called what Unixoid languages call
> 'threads' 'processes'. Chapter 23 of the manual.

OK, found chapter 23. And page 23-11, which talks about “Global
Resources”: this makes it clear that concurrent “processes” (i.e.
threads) cannot safely share access to global objects without explicit
locking:

    Two processes cannot both use the same global resource if there
    can be a process switch in the middle of their use (currently this
    means calls to BLOCK, but ultimately with a preemptive scheduler
    means anytime). Thus, user code should be wary of its own use of
    global variables, if it ever makes sense for the code to be run in
    more than one process at a time. "State" variables private to a
    process should generally be bound in that process; structures that
    are shared among processes (or resources used privately but
    expensive to duplicate per process) should be protected with
    monitor locks or some other form of synchronization.

So no, they had no magical solution to the problem. Note that point
about the “process switch in the middle of their use” -- such a
qualification would only have meaning in the context of a uniprocessor
architecture.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60922

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-16 11:46 +0000
Message-ID<110rd25$137br$2@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60888
Lawrence D´Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
> 
> Resources”: this makes it clear that concurrent “processes” (i.e.
> threads) cannot safely share access to global objects without explicit
> locking:
> 

That is nothing, nothing at all, to do with reference counting.  It's to do
with handling shared resources which is a famously hard problem which,
surprise, Interlisp-D did not solve.

-- 
tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60955

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-06-18 01:03 +0000
Message-ID<110vg5d$292a0$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60922
On Tue, 16 Jun 2026 11:46:13 -0000 (UTC), tfb wrote:

> Lawrence D´Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> Resources”: this makes it clear that concurrent “processes” (i.e.
>> threads) cannot safely share access to global objects without
>> explicit locking:
>
> That is nothing, nothing at all, to do with reference counting. It's
> to do with handling shared resources which is a famously hard
> problem which, surprise, Interlisp-D did not solve.

So what was that you said earlier: “so chances are it was quite a lot
cleverer”?

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60961

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-18 07:52 +0000
Message-ID<1110844$2epdc$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60955
Lawrence D´Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

> 
> So what was that you said earlier: “so chances are it was quite a lot
> cleverer”?
> 

You said 'Sothey must have had some kind of global lock to ensure the
reference counts stayed correct, like Python’s soon-to-be-extinct GIL?' I
said 'I don't know. That stuff was all in microcode I think. And unlike
Python it wasn't someone's 'my first big program' so chances are it was
quite a lot cleverer.'

Can you do topic analysis of text?  Can you work out that the topic of
those sentences was *a lock needed to deal with reference count
consistency* and not something else?

-- 
tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60928

Fromsteve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-16 20:56 -0400
Message-ID<871pe6rnl8.fsf@gmail.com>
In reply to#60863
Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:

> On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:06:44 -0000 (UTC), tfb wrote:
>
>> ... isn't it the case that early machines often ran either with the
>> GC disabled or without one at all because it wasn't working yet?
>
> I recall hearing that the machines would typically run OK for a day or
> two before they ran out of memory. Instead of GC, you just rebooted.

Thank you! exit and reset baby :)


>> The D-machines used reference counting, and the Medley release had a
>> pretty competent (pre-ANSI) CL environment. So that's a CL which
>> used (uses, even) reference counting,
>
> Did it do multithreading?

take this with a grain of salt: the lisp machine I have was more about
parallel operations. you fill two pipelines; if the first does not
overflow the machine halts on the second pipeline terminating bignum
arithmetic.

IMHO

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60864

FromAlan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu>
Date2026-06-13 00:55 -0400
Message-ID<86v7bnrqe2.fsf@williamsburg.bawden.org>
In reply to#60860
tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> writes:

> Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> wrote:
>> Other than those two entries, I don't see much else.
>
> I think the other thing would be the DYNAMIC-EXTENT declaration, although
> that's more about language semantics than anything to do with storage
> management.

Yeah, that does admit that a Common Lisp implementation probably has
both a stack and a heap, and that heap allocation is the norm.  But
since implementations are allowed to completely ignore DYNAMIC-EXTENT,
an implementation remains free to do something completely different!

> I didn't use LispMs until much later than you, but isn't it the case that
> early machines often ran either with the GC disabled or without one at all
> because it wasn't working yet?  That would be an implementation (not yet of
> CL of course) which had no storage reclamation.

There must have been a time when the CONS machine (only one of which was
ever built), had no working GC.  I don't recall if that was still the
case when I joined the project.  When I joined, a lot of stuff still
wasn't fully working.  It was still common in those days to develop code
using a compatability layer that ran in MacLisp!  But by the time we
built the first CADR machine, the GC was working.

>> So I don't see anything preventing a Common Lisp or Java implementation from
>> doing reference counting, or a Python implementation from _not_ doing
>> reference counting.  (what's Jython doing after all?)
>
> The D-machines used reference counting, and the Medley release had a pretty
> competent (pre-ANSI) CL environment.  So that's a CL which used (uses,
> even) reference counting,

You mentioned in another thread that Interlisp-D didn't handle cycles as
well a you would have liked.  I was suprised to read that, because if
so, I would expect that those of us at MIT would have never stopped
making fun of Interlisp-D for that!  Was there some argument for why
that wasn't really a problem that we all accepted at the time?  Or have
I just forgotten knowing that once...

-- 
Alan Bawden

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60866

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-13 07:43 +0000
Message-ID<110j1m8$2p63h$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60864
Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> wrote:

> You mentioned in another thread that Interlisp-D didn't handle cycles as
> well a you would have liked.  I was suprised to read that, because if
> so, I would expect that those of us at MIT would have never stopped
> making fun of Interlisp-D for that!  Was there some argument for why
> that wasn't really a problem that we all accepted at the time?  Or have
> I just forgotten knowing that once...
> 

I don't know.  I was (am) in the UK which was a lot further from things
then so I'm not sure how much of a problem it was.  In the case I knew
about there was some big parser which built a large (by the standards of
then) structure with lots of circularities, which you needed to break
before dropping it.  I think lexical closures in CL leaked as well.

I suspect Interlisp (which I don't know well as I always used the CL
environment really) was careful not to build circular structure?

If I remember I'll ask the Interlisp revival people.

-- 
www.tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60929

Fromsteve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-16 21:37 -0400
Message-ID<87qzm6q75r.fsf@gmail.com>
In reply to#60864
Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> writes:

>  Was there some argument for why
> that wasn't really a problem that we all accepted at the time?  Or have
> I just forgotten knowing that once...


you did not forget you just misused the GC on your brain :)

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60873

FromPaul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid>
Date2026-06-13 13:09 -0700
Message-ID<87tsr68ao2.fsf@nightsong.com>
In reply to#60857
Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> writes:
> So I don't see anything preventing a Common Lisp or Java
> implementation from doing reference counting, or a Python
> implementation from _not_ doing reference counting.  (what's Jython
> doing after all?)

MicroPython in fact uses GC.  I would say that old-style Python de facto
assumed reference counting though.  People would write:

    def foo():
       f = open(filename)
       do some stuff
       return

and rely on the file getting closed when its handle goes out of scope
and its refcount drops to 0.  Python later (version 2.5) added "context
managers" aka the "with" statement, which is a type of RAII for stuff
like that.  Basically a block of code wrapped in something like
unwind-protect, that initializes something (like a file handle) at the
beginning, and finalizes it in the cleanup action.

The Scheme standards just say the user program sees the illusion of
infinite memory.

There's a notion in the Python world that reference counting somehow
eliminates GC pauses.  Of course that's naive, because of what happens
when a large collection gets released.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60882

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-06-14 01:02 +0000
Message-ID<110kujv$3a32m$5@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60873
On Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:09:33 -0700, Paul Rubin wrote:

> There's a notion in the Python world that reference counting somehow
> eliminates GC pauses. Of course that's naive, because of what
> happens when a large collection gets released.

That’s equivalent to how C would handle it, anyway, and with similar
performance.

With the new free-multithreading architecture, you can pay the price
for that wait on a separate thread, while the rest of your program
continues on its merry way. Without the cache-hostile behaviour of a
garbage collector.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60919

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-16 10:12 +0000
Message-ID<110r7hn$11hav$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60873
Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> wrote:

> There's a notion in the Python world that reference counting somehow
> eliminates GC pauses.  Of course that's naive, because of what happens
> when a large collection gets released.
> 

Seriously.  In Interlisp D you could go and make tea when some large object
got dropped.  Of course 'large' then meant 'significantly larger than
physical memory'.


-- 
tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60935

Fromsteve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-16 22:54 -0400
Message-ID<87v7bhq3kt.fsf@gmail.com>
In reply to#60857
Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> writes:

> steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> writes:
>>
>>> I don't think any of Common Lisp, Java, Perl or Python promise to employ
>>> any particular algorithm for collecting garbage.  It's not something you
>>> really need to put in your language specification document.

this would be it.

>>> All you
>>> need to say is that storage management is not something the programmer
>>> needs to worry about.  Nothing prevents you from implementing a Common
>>> Lisp that does reference counting.

yes, I believe sun micro can host DNS for the entire planet, Just like
when oracle crashed the stock market because they did not state that
inserting SQL requests into the transaction log makes things faster.

> That's hilarious.  I worked for the Lisp Machine project at MIT back in
> the 70's.  Back then, Garbage Collection was a pretty hot topic.  I did
> not work on the Lisp Machine's GC, but I was in the room while other
> people worked on it

they actually let you into their lab? Quite an acomplishment (no sarcasm).

> I'm not sure what I said in the paragraph you quoted above that made you
> think I was a "newbie".

it seems like you are a trustworthy person. the lab and the office are
two different places.

> That paragraph was intended to contain the
> non-controversial part of what I wanted to say.  Can you point to
> something in the language definitions for any of those languages that
> explicitly requires any particular form of garbage collector?

these days your type of GC is an IQ thing, IMHO.

> For
> Common Lisp, Java or Python there may be things in some runtime
> libraries that let you query and control the GC, but the language
> specification itself is generally limited in what it says about storage
> management.

if you do not understand why people deviate from the standard, you will
not understand the market value/power of a word.

> The Common Lisp standard, for example, tells you that there is a
> condition called STORAGE-CONDITION, that might get signaled sometimes
> --


so if I run out of memory the computer will use virtual memory instead?


> but the description of STORAGE-CONDITION is vague enough that I don't
> think you can draw any conclusions about what the underlying storage
> manager is doing.

I usually get a core dump.

> There is also the ROOM function, which promises to
> output something useful about storage -- but exactly what that includes
> is unspecified.  Other than those two entries, I don't see much else.

again you seem to be too trusting. What is a brand? "A brand is a promise".

> Actually, I can't find anyplace in the Common Lisp standard that even
> says outright that a Common Lisp implementation is expected to do
> automatic storage management, although that's clearly implied all over
> the place.

what brand do you believe in?

> In contrast the Java language specification says right up front in the
> 3rd paragraph of the introduction:
>
>    [Java] includes automatic storage management, typically using a
>    garbage collector, [...]

yeah yeah yeah we all now that newer programming languages usually do
better than the older ones; usually due to better hardware. I paid
$500.00 per stick of EDO ram. all 4 megabytes.

> And the Python language reference says (in the "Data Model" chapter):
>
>    An implementation is allowed to postpone garbage collection or omit
>    it altogether — it is a matter of implementation quality how garbage
>    collection is implemented, as long as no objects are collected that
>    are still reachable.

sounds like a marketing droid wrote that. I do not like to combine maybe
or should with computer languages because deviating from the standard is
a primary means for people to make money by inconveniencing yourself.
What version of Visual Basic do you use? I loved visual basic version v6,
but it is no longer useful to them, so we are not allowed to use it
anymore, despite the fact that it is an excellent language.


> So I don't see anything preventing a Common Lisp or Java implementation from
> doing reference counting, or a Python implementation from _not_ doing
> reference counting.  (what's Jython doing after all?)


dump your science brain for a second and think like a marketdroid. I
feel like this would be hard for you (most programmers are beyond
stubborn; which freud considered a compliment). Please as much as I love
psychology please do not let this not turn into a freud disagreement.


I grew up in a world where losing profits as a corporate officer would
result in jail time (like prison).

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60940

FromAlan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu>
Date2026-06-17 00:07 -0400
Message-ID<86ldcdstcd.fsf@williamsburg.bawden.org>
In reply to#60935
steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> writes:

> dump your science brain for a second and think like a marketdroid. I
> feel like this would be hard for you (most programmers are beyond
> stubborn; which freud considered a compliment). Please as much as I love
> psychology please do not let this not turn into a freud disagreement.

The definition of plonkable.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60947

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-17 08:33 +0000
Message-ID<110tm5j$1nl6a$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60940
Alan Bawden <alan@csail.mit.edu> wrote:
> steve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> 
> The definition of plonkable.
> 

It's nice someone remembers that.  I am worried that the monster that once
ate CLL has awoken from its slumber though...

-- 
tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60859

Fromtfb <no_email@invalid.invalid>
Date2026-06-12 12:42 +0000
Message-ID<110gus7$26hn2$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#60842
steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> you must be a newbie.
> 

Oh dear oh dear.

-- 
www.tfeb.org/computer/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60937

Fromsteve g <Sgonedes1977@gmail.com>
Date2026-06-16 23:32 -0400
Message-ID<87qzm5q1t2.fsf@gmail.com>
In reply to#60859
tfb <no_email@invalid.invalid> writes:

> steve g <sgonedes1977@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 
>> you must be a newbie.
>> 
>
> Oh dear oh dear.


Please, I just got into big trouble for shooting a deer in the ass with
my 2 meter antenna.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#60838

FromStefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
Date2026-06-09 09:36 -0400
Message-ID<jwv5x3rg80j.fsf-monnier+comp.lang.lisp@gnu.org>
In reply to#60825
> Lisp is purely garbage-collected though, isn’t it?

Most languages (Lisp included) don't specify how and when unreachable
objects are collected, as others pointed out.  Actually, most languages
don't even specify what counts as "unreachable" (Scheme being one of
the exceptions).

> Languages like Perl and Python try for a hybrid
> reference-counted/garbage-collected approach, for speed and also more
> deterministic memory usage in many common scenarios.

Probably not "for speed": it takes a significant amount of work to make
a reference-counting system that's competitive (speedwise) with
a tracing GC, because there tend to be *many* refcount updates (and it
gets worse if you support concurrency, where most of those updates
need to be made atomic).


=== Stefan

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


Page 4 of 9 — ← Prev page 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9  Next page →

Back to top | Article view | comp.lang.lisp


csiph-web