mathematics

Macintosh Common Lisp

Macintosh Common Lisp is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Macintosh Common Lisp rather than just read about it. In short: Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL) is an implementation and IDE for the Common Lisp programming language. Various versions of MCL run under the classic Mac OS (m68k and PPC) and Mac OS X.

Key takeaways

Macintosh Common Lisp belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Macintosh Common Lisp to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Macintosh Common Lisp from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL) is an implementation and IDE for the Common Lisp programming language. Various versions of MCL run under the classic Mac OS (m68k and PPC) and Mac OS X. Versions of MCL up to and including 5.1 are proprietary. Version 5.2 has been open sourced. In 2009 a new different version of MCL has been open sourced: RMCL. RMCL is based on MCL 5.1 and does run under Rosetta on Intel-based Macs.

Features of MCL MCL was famous for its integration with the Macintosh toolbox (later: Apple Carbon), which allowed direct access to most of the Mac OS functionality directly from Lisp. This was achieved with a low-level interface that allowed direct manipulation of native Mac OS data structures from Lisp, together with a high-level interface that was more convenient to use. In a 2001 article in Dr. Dobb's Journal, Peter Norvig wrote that "MCL is my favorite IDE on the Macintosh platform for any language and is a serious rival to those on other platforms".

History of MCL Development on MCL began in 1984. Over its history, MCL has been known under different names: Running on 68k-based Apple Macintosh Computers:

1987, Coral Common Lisp 1987, Macintosh Allegro Common Lisp 1988, Apple Macintosh Common Lisp Running on PowerPC-based Apple Macintosh Computers:

1994, Digitool Macintosh Common Lisp It has also spawned at least one separately maintained fork:

1998, Clozure CL (CCL), known previously as OpenMCL In 2007 MCL 5.2 was open sourced. In 2009 RMCL (MCL running under Rosetta) was published as open source. Since 2009 an open source version of RMCL (based on MCL 5.2) is hosted at Google Code MCL. This version runs under Rosetta (Apple's PPC to Intel code translator that is an optional install under Mac OS X 10.6).

References

External links Homepage for the commercial version (now legacy) MCL 5.2 (sources and binary). RMCL (sources and binary). MCL 5.2 at Google Code Macintosh Common Lisp at NIST at the Wayback Machine (archived March 3, 2016)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Macintosh Common Lisp

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Macintosh Common Lisp claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Macintosh Common Lisp before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Macintosh Common Lisp ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Macintosh Common Lisp

In research: Macintosh Common Lisp appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Macintosh Common Lisp in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Macintosh Common Lisp is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Common Lisp (programming language) software, Common Lisp implementations, Free and open source compilers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Macintosh Common Lisp outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Macintosh Common Lisp in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Macintosh Common Lisp means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Macintosh Common Lisp out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Macintosh Common Lisp in simple terms?

Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL) is an implementation and IDE for the Common Lisp programming language. Various versions of MCL run under the classic Mac OS (m68k and PPC) and Mac OS X.

Why does Macintosh Common Lisp matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Macintosh Common Lisp?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Macintosh Common Lisp.