ecl

Embeddable Common Lisp interpreter

TLDR

Start ECL REPL

$ ecl

Load and execute a file

$ ecl -load [file.lisp]

Evaluate expression

$ ecl -eval "(print \"Hello\")"

Compile file to shared library

$ ecl -compile [file.lisp]

Run script and exit

$ ecl -shell [script.lisp]

Start without initialization

$ ecl -norc

ECL (Embeddable Common Lisp) is an implementation of Common Lisp designed to be embedded in other applications. It compiles Lisp to C, enabling integration with C libraries and native code generation.ECL supports the full ANSI Common Lisp standard with extensions for threading, FFI (Foreign Function Interface), and embedding. It can produce standalone executables and shared libraries.

PARAMETERS

-load file

Load Lisp file.

-eval expr

Evaluate expression.

-compile file

Translate file to C and compile to a shared library (.fas).

-o ofile

Name the compiled shared library output file.

-c cfile

Name the intermediary C file and keep it after compilation.

-h hfile

Name the intermediary C header file and keep it after compilation.

-data [datafile]

Dump compiler data into datafile.

-s

Produce a linkable object file instead of a shared library.

-shell script

Run as script, then exit.

-norc

Don't load init file (~/.eclrc).

-dir directory

Use directory as system directory.

-q

Reduce compiler output verbosity.

CONFIGURATION

~/.eclrc

Initialization file loaded on startup containing Lisp expressions for customization.

REPL COMMANDS

$ (quit)           ; Exit ECL
(load "file")    ; Load Lisp file
(compile-file "f"); Compile to object
(require :asdf)  ; Load ASDF

CAVEATS

Compiling to C adds complexity. Some libraries may need adaptation for ECL. Debugging compiled code is harder than interpreted. Threading behavior may differ from other implementations.

HISTORY

ECL was originally developed at IRCAM (Paris) in the 1980s as KCL (Kyoto Common Lisp). It was forked and developed as ECL by Giuseppe Attardi and later maintained by the community. The focus on embeddability distinguishes it from other Common Lisp implementations.

ecl