Origins of Common Lisp LOOP

[Paolo Amoroso]

On Mastodon Kent Pitman posted a scan of the 1981 specification of MACLISP's LOOP macro which started a discussion on the origins of the statement (be sure to scroll down), CLISP, and Interlisp.

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Paolo Amoroso | Blog | Mastodon

[pixel...@gmail.com]

Did it get deleted? I don't see it there.

Some people get bent out of shape by LOOP but really I think it's a cultural artifact in Lisp that hints at a tradition that goes beyond surface level s-expressions.
Implementing a mini DSL in Lisp using lists, symbols and delayed evaluation is exactly the kind of thing that makes Lisp a "programmable programming language".
Something that until recently went without saying.
I think that notion of using macros, creating DSLs, and writing a language for the domain you're working on is fading culturally, and I'm not thrilled about it.

The only valid critique in my opinion is the ambiguity introduced by clause based English grammars.
"Can I use multiple expressions in the same DO clause without grouping em or do I do one DO per case?" or "Am I allowed to nest IF WHEN etc conditionals?".

- Sincerely
Ryan

[Paul McJones]

I added that document (both versions) to https://softwarepreservation.computerhistory.org/LISP/maclisp_family.html#LISP_1.5/1.6/MACLISP_for_PDP-6/10_:

Glen Burke and David Moon. Loop Iteration Macro. MIT/LCS/TM-169, Laboratory for Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"LOOP is a Lisp macro which provides a programmable iteration facility. The same LOOP module operates compatibly in both Lisp Machine Lisp and Maclisp (PDP-10 and Multics). LOOP was inspired by the 'FOR' facility of CLISP in InterLisp; however, it is not compatible and differs In several details."

• July 1980. PDF at apps.dtic.mil
• Revision 1, January 1981. PDF at nhplace.com

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[Larry Masinter]

The /for/ construct was part of an add-on to LISP/360 running at Stanford.

The February 1972 printout: 

    https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102721861/

shows the basic syntax.

I was working on the DENDRAL project at Stanford in 1972, and we were porting DENDRAL to BBN Lisp.

Warren Teitelman came by to viisit (he was the lead of BBN Lisp renamed to Interlisp, and I showed it to Warren.

I should update my home page.

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https://LarryMasinter.net  https://interlisp.org

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lispcore/A63A5A4F-F2D2-4E29-8BF7-E8DF4837D496%40mcjones.org.

[Paolo Amoroso]

Paul, in case you're interested Kent Pitman has been posting to his Mastodon profile scans of some other Lisp documents from his personal archive on topics such as TECO and Maclisp/Zetalisp to Common Lisp conversion.

Ryan, as far as I know the posts are public and I can still view them even when not logged into Mastodon. Do you get any errors? Can you try a different browser?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lispcore/A63A5A4F-F2D2-4E29-8BF7-E8DF4837D496%40mcjones.org.

[Paul McJones]

I added a link to your printout under Stanford Lisp/360: https://softwarepreservation.computerhistory.org/LISP/other_lisp15.html#Stanford_Lisp_360_

Paul

[pixel...@gmail.com]

PEBCAK error on my part. I can see the discussion.