NIL (programming language): Difference between revisions

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'''New Implementation of LISP''' ('''NIL''') is a [[programming language]], a [[Dialect (computing)|dialect]] of the language [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]], developed at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) during the 1970s, and intended to be the successor to the language [[Maclisp]].<ref name=Steele>{{cite web |url=https://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/HOPL2-Uncut.pdf |title=The evolution of Lisp |last1=Steele |first1=Guy L. Jr. |last2=Gabriel |first2=Richard P. |access-date=2017-08-05}}</ref> It is a [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] implementation,<ref name=Gabriel>{{cite book

|last=Gabriel

|first=Richard P.

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==History==

The [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] language was invented in 1958 by [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]] while he was at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/LISP/ |title=History of LISP |last=McJones |first=Paul |access-date=2006-10-12}}</ref> From its inception, Lisp was closely connected with the [[artificial intelligence]] (AI) research [[Community of practice|community]], especially on [[PDP-10]] systems. The [[36-bit computing|36-bit]] [[Word (computer architecture)|word]] size of the [[PDP-6]] and [[PDP-10]] was influenced by the usefulness of having two Lisp [[18-bit computing|18-bit]] [[Pointer (computer programming)|pointers]] in one word: "The PDP-6 project started in early 1963, as a [[24-bit computing|24-bit]] machine. It grew to 36 bits for LISP, a design goal."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://groups.google.com/group/alt.folklore.computers/browse_thread/thread/6e5602ce733d0ec/17597705ae289112 |title=The History of TOPS or Life in the Fast ACs |last=Hurley |first=Peter J. |editor-last1=Stevens |editor-first=Jack |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first2=Lum |website=Google Groups |access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref> Lisp was used as the implementation of the programming language Micro [[Planner (programming language)|Planner]] that was the foundation for the famous AI system [[SHRDLU]]. Lisp, in particular [[Maclisp]] (so named because it originated at MIT's project MAC) was also used to implement the [[Macsyma]] [[computer algebra system]]. In the 1970s, as AI research spawned commercial offshoots, the performance of extant Lisp systems became a growing problem.

Partly because of [[Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection]] (Lisp would use stop-and-copy garbage collection of its single heap for [[Dynamic memory allocation|memory allocation]]<ref name="Gabriel"/>) and partly because of its representation of internal structures, Lisp became difficult to run on the memory-limited stock [[computer hardware]] of the day. This led to creating [[Lisp machine]]s: dedicated hardware for running Lisp environments and programs. An alternative was to use the more powerful commodity hardware which was becoming available, especially the [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) [[VAX]].