Common Lisp

Lisp · 1984Actively developed

Standardized Lisp with macros, a rich object system and interactive compilation.

Procedural · Functional · Object-oriented

Tracked release

Version: ANSI X3.226-1994
Artifact: Language standard
Published: 1994
Source checked: 2026-10-22

https://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Front/

Use & ecosystem

Suited for: Web backends, CLI tools / automation, Symbolic / logic programming
Family / tradition: Functional / ML / lazy, Lisp
Maturity: Stable niche
Ecosystem breadth: Focused

A stable standard and maintained implementations support Stable niche. Long history and powerful abstraction facilities do not establish a broad contemporary application ecosystem.

Industry & practical use

Symbolic programming, interactive tools and some long-lived applications are important uses. Integration availability should be checked against the selected implementation.

Compilers, libraries & tooling

Implementations such as SBCL offer native compilation; ASDF and library distribution tools support projects. Libraries and platform interfaces are not all standardized.

Platforms & deployment

General toolchains: Linux, Windows, macOS
Specialized tooling: None catalogued
Native cross-compilation: Restricted / involved

Mainstream implementations cover major desktop/server systems, but target and threading support differ.

Cross-building applications is implementation-specific; generating a compiler for another target is not a universal application deployment workflow.

Project health & support

Community and commercial implementations provide several support options. A stable standard is valuable, but compiler and dependency health need separate assessment.

Use, ecosystem & platform assessment reviewed 2026-10-22 · Sources below

History & origin

Common Lisp consolidated several Lisp traditions in the early 1980s. The 1984 language book preceded ANSI standardization in 1994; implementations continue to evolve independently of the settled standard.

Creators: Guy L. Steele Jr., Common Lisp design committee
Origin: 1984 — First Common Lisp language book; design began earlier.

Influences & descendants

Influenced by

Lisphttps://common-lisp.net/

Influenced in this catalogue

No linked entries yet.

Language features

Typing: Dynamic
Execution: AOT, JIT, Interpreted
Block structure: Explicit delimiters
Semicolons: Not statement separators
Lexical closures: Yes
Namespaced modules: Yes
Pattern matching: Partial
Macro system: Syntactic macros

Implementation notes

Semicolons introduce comments. Pattern matching is commonly library-provided; macros and lexical closures are core language facilities.

Sources & references

Project overview: https://common-lisp.net/
Language / implementation reference: https://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Front/

Use, ecosystem & platform sources

Project overview: https://common-lisp.net/
Language / implementation reference: https://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Front/

See the classification definitions for implementation-dependent features. Influence links cover the entries documented here.

Links