October 2010 - toronto-lisp - mailman3.common-lisp.net

Re: [toronto-lisp] Fwd: Development helpers
by Leo Zovic 07 Oct '10

07 Oct '10

> > Hi there, > > first of all Paul and Dave, thanks for replying!! The question can perhaps > be best explained > with an example: > > repl=> (defun doit-3 (x) > (* 3 x)) > repl=> '(some more cool stuff) > repl=>'(and more and more) > > i keep testing and playing around with functions > more and more > > I can certainly run my doit-3 function > > repl=>(doit-3 4) > 12 > repl=> > > and now, I say to myself, - how the heck did I write that doit-3, I forgot, > because, > I wrote it 20 minutes ago, it obviously exists inside REPL because I can > execute it... > So, how do I view [dump??] the contents of doit-3 to the screen, or to a > file on the > disk, so I can invoke an editor and modify doit-3 and then reload it?? > > I am just interested in learning how to be more productive in a standard > software > development cycle. > > Thanks, Alex. If you typed the function in recently enough, you can hit Ctrl+up (or similar depending on what kind of prompt you're using) to see previous definitions you entered, but there's sometimes a limit to how much history you can access that way. If the only place you've typed the function is into the REPL, and you can't get far enough up using REPL history, then there isn't really a way of backing the definition out. With your example above: => (defun doit-3 (x) (* 3 x)) DOIT-3 => (doit-3 4) 12 [some time later your typing history runs out and you forgot how doit-3 was defined] => #'doit-3 #<FUNCTION DOIT-3> If you're used to JavaScript, this seems asinine; why doesn't it just print out the function text? The reason is that when you define a function, it's compiled into some form of byte-code and the REPL throws away the initial representation (in JavaScript that doesn't happen so you can easily get the definition given a function name). The sure way to have access to functions you've written earlier is to record them in a file, as opposed to just the REPL. You've gotten some LispWorks pointers already (which I assume are correct, I don't use it myself). In Emacs/slime, the way you'd do this is 1. split your window [default binding C-x 2 or C-x 3 for a vertical split] 2. open a lisp file in one, and slime in the other [M-x slime] 3. type your definitions out in the lisp file, and use Emacs keystrokes to send individual definitions into the prompt [default binding C-M-x] C-M-x will send the definition closest your pointer to the SLIME prompt as though you typed it there, but you'll still have access to the initial definition. If you need to redefine it, just make the changes and hit C-M-x again with your pointer somewhere in the definition. -Leo

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[toronto-lisp] Development helpers
by Aleksandar Matijaca 06 Oct '10

06 Oct '10

Hi there, A bit of a noob question - let's say that I have an interactive Repl session that has been going on for about an hour or so, and all of a sudden I wish to modify a defun I wrote a while ago. What is the easiest way first to show that code on the console, modify it, and load it back into Repl ? I am just trying to come up with a comfortable development environment for myself. Thanks, Alex Sent from my iPhone

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[toronto-lisp] My first meeting
by Aleksandar Matijaca 06 Oct '10

06 Oct '10

It was very nice to meet all of you folks, I look forward to learning more from all of you, and that I can contribute something reasonable at some time in the future.. Cheers, Alex.

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[toronto-lisp] meeting tomorrow, 6pm at Linuxcaffe
by Vish Singh 06 Oct '10

06 Oct '10

The October meeting of the Toronto Lisp Users Group is upon us! Tuesday October 5 2010, 6pm, at the Linuxcaffe Lately I've become interested in methods for reliable software. The article "Crash-Only Software" is a great read (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.90.9585&rep=rep1&t…) I wonder if these or similar ideas have been pursued using Lisp. I know there's someone working on an Erlang in Lisp. But I feel like that's only the beginning.. See you all tomorrow! http://www.lisptoronto.org/ Best wishes, Vish

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