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I've read many topics regarding this issue, but couldn't get it to an end. I want to be able to code in LISP on Mac, using Emacs and XLispStat. So far, I've installed Emacs with HomeBrew but I got stuck when installing XLispStat. Can someone detail the steps for doing this? I'll appreciate!

P.S.: This is the required installation for Lisp. If there is something easier to achieve on Mac, I'll try that as well!

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port install emacs slime sbcl –  SK-logic Mar 4 '13 at 15:37
@linkyndy, it's a way to go with MacPorts. This command will install you everything you'd ever need for using Common Lisp. If you're on a HomeBrew, look for an equivalent. But I did not notice that you want XLispStat (and therefore, xlisp). It's pretty dead by now. Why would you want using it instead of, say, R? But, if you insist, follow this instructions: ftp.stat.umn.edu/pub/xlispstat/current/macintosh/… –  SK-logic Mar 4 '13 at 16:41
I would be surprised if XLispStat runs in a useful way on a Intel Mac running Mac OS X 10.8. –  Rainer Joswig Mar 4 '13 at 16:42
My best advice is to listen to the advice of others-- in particular, SK-logic and Rainer. They both make good points regarding this question and on questions in general. If you really want to try to compile XLispStat for OS X, however, this page might help. At the very least, there are some comments there that might hint at what you are up against. –  smt Mar 4 '13 at 16:50
Just out of curiosity, I've just managed to build X11 version of XLisp on Mac, with a bit of tweaks in the code. But still can't see how could it be useful. –  SK-logic Mar 4 '13 at 16:56
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2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I posted a similar answer on this question. Short version: your options for an OS X Lisp environment are LispBox, LispWorks personal (crippleware warning) or Emacs+SLIME via quicklisp/ELPA.

Since your comments imply that you're casting a pretty wide net for workable Common Lisp tools, I'll also mention that CLISP seems to be supported via various OS X ports/package managers and has a fairly comfortable REPL (you can, of course get the same in SBCL with Linedit).

EDIT: As Rainer and Vsevolod mention below, Clozure and MCLIDE also exist. I've used neither myself, so I can't give you any details (though Clozure has been recommended to me on multiple occasions).

Oh, and is there a possibility to write the code is some normal text editor and compile it somehow in the terminal?

Not in the way that I think you mean, but yes, you can write a .lisp file with Sublime or whatever, then sbcl your-file-here.lisp. Note that sbcl your-file-here.lisp starts a running Lisp instance with a REPL, and incurs all the overhead that implies. If you're dead set against Emacs, what you could do is run a REPL separately from your project directory, then just (load "file-you-changed.lisp") or (ql:quickload :your-project-name) every so often.

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add Clozure CL! –  Rainer Joswig Mar 4 '13 at 21:33
and MCLIDE! –  Vsevolod Dyomkin Mar 4 '13 at 22:15
I've gone with Emacs+Slime, as it is the closest alternative to what I'm demanded. Thank you! –  Andrei Horak Mar 5 '13 at 15:20
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xlispstat can be compiled on Mac OS 10.8 and works perfectly fine. It needs a couple of little edits for the nitpicking compiler but works perfectly with XQuartz. The people who are telling you to use other systems don't know how well integrated xlispstat is for people doing numerical work.

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@SK-logic: Not to start a flamewar or anything, just as a matter of opinion: For anyone with a mathematical bent, lisp is much easier to use than R. I've never figured out how Tierney could give up on xlisp and go work on R. Different strokes ... –  user2267988 Apr 10 '13 at 21:18
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