Common Lisp

Common Lisp is a powerful, standardized, multi-paradigm programming language famous for its dynamic REPL-driven development, hygienic macro system, condition system, and high performance. Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is the premier high-performance compiler implementation.

Installation

You can install SBCL natively on Ubuntu via APT, along with Quicklisp, the standard library package manager for Common Lisp.

Option 1: Installing SBCL via APT

Update your package lists and install SBCL:

apt update
apt install -y sbcl cl-launch

Option 2: Installing Quicklisp (Library Manager)

Quicklisp makes downloading and managing Common Lisp packages seamless.

1. Download the official Quicklisp bootstrap script:

curl -O https://beta.quicklisp.org/quicklisp.lisp

2. Run the non-interactive Quicklisp installer:

sbcl --no-sysinit --no-userinit --load quicklisp.lisp \
  --eval '(quicklisp-quickstart:install :path "~/.quicklisp")' \
  --eval '(ql:add-to-init-file)' \
  --quit

Quicklisp will now automatically load whenever you launch sbcl.

Verification

Confirm that SBCL is installed:

sbcl --version

Writing and Running Code

Interactive REPL

Start the SBCL interactive session:

sbcl

Evaluate expressions inside the REPL prompt:

* (format t "Hello, World from Lisp REPL!~%")
Hello, World from Lisp REPL!
NIL

Type (quit) or (sb-ext:exit) to exit.

Running a Lisp Script File

Create a source file named hello.lisp:

(defun main ()
  (format t "Hello, World from Common Lisp in TIDE!~%"))

(main)

Run the script directly via SBCL CLI:

sbcl --script hello.lisp

Building a Standalone Native Executable

You can dump the active Lisp image into a fast, standalone binary file.

Create a file named make-executable.lisp:

(defun main ()
  (format t "Hello, standalone Lisp executable!~%")
  (sb-ext:exit))

(sb-ext:save-lisp-and-die "hello"
                          :toplevel #'main
                          :executable t)

Execute SBCL to generate the executable binary:

sbcl --load make-executable.lisp
./hello

Official Resources

• Official Website