Understanding Common Lisp's Packaging System: ASDF and Quicklisp Explained
By
todsacerdoti
Front-window bakery material. Catches the eye, delivers the goods.
Summary
This article explains the packaging ecosystem for Common Lisp, focusing on the relationship between the language's built-in functionality, ASDF (Another System Definition Facility), and Quicklisp. It addresses the confusion newcomers face due to Common Lisp's historical development during a time of incompatible operating systems and file systems, which led to terminology that differs from modern languages. The article clarifies what these tools are, how they work together, and provides practical guidance for using them effectively.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledIf there is one thing that confuses newcomers to Common Lisp, it is the interplay of built-in CL functionality, add-ons like Quicklisp and ASDF, and what all the words mean.
Common Lisp is old, and its inspiration is even older. It was developed when there was zero consensus on how file systems worked, operating systems were more incompatible than you can probably imagine, and that age shows.
It pinned down terminology way before other languages got to the same point, and, as it happens so often, the late arrivals decided that they needed different words and these words stuck.
Common Lisp has good packaging tools, but they're different. Here we explain the what and how.
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