Subject: [sage-devel] presentation about Maxima at Sage
From: Bill
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:06:12 -0400
On Wed, 2008-06-18 at 15:18 -0500, dfeustel at mindspring.com wrote:
. . .
> Actually, I am looking for a catalog of Common Lisp functions to study
> off-line as well as online.
"Common Lisp the Language", second edition, by Guy L. Steele et al.
It's a big paperback, still available in bookstores. I think it is one
of the most readable language references around. It's not exactly ANSI
but I rarely run into the differences.
> > The online guides like CLHS will presumably fit in some device that
> > fits in your pocket. But I think few people program in Lisp or any
> > other language "off line".
I still much prefer to "program off line" since my desk has more room
than my screen, and I loath flipping overlaid windows up and down.
Multiple virtual desktops ala KDE help but the motion is distracting.
> I find reading books is easier on my eyes than reading the screen when I
> have a lot to absorb. What is CLHS?
CLHS is the Common Lisp Hyperspec, an HTML (I think) reference with lots
of internal cross links. I haven't used it 'cause I find HTML text
formatting unpleasant on the eyes and mind (sorry, folks, I still like
page numbers, footnotes, widow&orphan management, all that page-oriented
stuff. Not to mention truly decent fonts).
-- Bill Wood