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PicoLisp ARadicalApproachtoApplicationDevelopment

SoftwareLab.AlexanderBurger Bahnhofstr.24a,D-86462Langweid abu@software-lab.de(www.software-lab.de) +49-(0)821-9907090 June22,2006

Abstract

Criteriaforproductiveapplicationdevelopmentareconsidered(yetagain),and apointismadewhyweregardLispasthe

only

languagesuitedforthattask.Pico Lispispresentedasasuccessfulexample,usedincommercialapplicationsformany years,andadaptedtothistask(arguably)betterthananyotherLisp.

1Introduction

Iamworkingasaconsultantandfreesoftwaredeveloper.Duringthepasttwentyyears mypartnersandIworkedonprojectsasdiverseaspre-pressimageprocessing,computer aideddesign,simulations,andvariousnancialandbusinessapplications. ForalmostalltheseprojectsweusedLisp. Mydailyjobistolistentocustomerrequests,toanalyzebusinessprocesses,anddevelop softwareaccordingtothoseneeds. Typically{inbusinessapplicationslikeERPorCRM{thisisaprocessofpermanent change.Atthebeginningofanewproject,neitherthedevelopernorthecustomerknow forsurewhatisneeded,norhowexactlythenalproductshouldlook. Itwillbefoundbyaniterativeprocess(somecallit\extremeprogramming"):Thecus- tomerevaluateseachnewversion,thenwediscussfurtherstrategies.Itisnotuncommon thatunanticipatedrequirementsmaycauselargepartsoftheprojecttoberewritten. Thisdoesnotnecessarilyimplybadplanning,becausetheprocessIdescribehere

the planning.Inanidealworld,softwaredevelopmentis

only

planning{thetimespentfor actuallywritingcodeshouldconvergetowardszero. Weneedaprogramminglanguagewhichletsusdirectlyexpresswhatwewanttheprogram todo,inapragmaticandexibleway.Andwebelievethateverythingshouldbeassimple aspossible,sothattheprogrammerisabletounderstandatanytimewhatisgoingon underthehood. Overtheyears,thePicoLisp[1]systemevolvedfromaminimalistLispimplementationto adedicatedapplicationserver.Pleasenotethatwearenottalkingofarapidprototyping tool.Ateachdevelopmentstep,theresultisalwaysafullyfunctionalprogram,nota prototype,growingtowardsthe(possiblynal)productionversion.Instead,youmay callitapowertoolfortheprofessionalprogrammer,wholikestokeepincontrolofhis evironment,andwantstoexpresshisapplicationlogicanddatastructuresinaconcise notation. 1

FirstwewanttointroducePicoLisp,explainwhyPicodiersinitslowerlevelsquite radicallyfromotherLispsordevelopmentsystems,andthenshowitsbenetatthehigher levels.

2ARadicalApproach

The(Common-)LispcommunitywillprobablynotbeenthusiasticaboutPicoLisp,be- causeitdisposesofseveraltraditionalLispbeliefsanddogmas.Somearejustmyths,but theycancauseLisptobecometoocomplicated,heavyandslow.Thepracticalexperi- encewithPicoLispprovesthatalightweightandfastLispisoptimalformanykindsof productiveapplicationdevelopment.

2.1Myth1:LispNeedsaCompiler

Thisisinfactthemostsignicantmyth.IfyoulistentoLispdiscussiongroups,the compilerplaysacentralrole.Youmightgettheimpressionthatitisalmostasynonym fortheexecutionenvironment.Peopleworryaboutwhatthecompilerdoestotheircode, andhoweectiveitis.IfyourLispprogramappearstobeslow,youaresupposedtoget abettercompiler. Theideaofan

interpreted

Lispisregardedasanoldmisconception.AmodernLispneeds acompiler;theinterpreterisjustausefuladd-on,andmainlyaninteractivedebugging aid.Itistooslowandbloatedforexecutingproductionlevelprograms. Webelievethattheoppositeistrue.Foronething(andnotjustfromaphilosophical pointofview)acompiledLispprogramisnolongerLispatall.Itbreaksthefundamental ruleof\formalequivalenceofcodeanddata".TheresultingcodedoesnotconsistofS- Expressions,andcannotbehandledbyLisp.Thesourcelanguage(Lisp)wastransformed toanotherlanguage(machinecode),withinevitableincompatibilitiesbetweendierent virtualmachines. Practically,acompilercomplicatesthewholesystem.Featureslikemultiplebinding strategies,typedvariablesandmacroswereintroducedtosatisfytheneedsofcompilers. Thesystemgetsbloated,becauseitalsohastosupporttheinterpreterandthustwo ratherdierentarchitectures. Butisitworththeeort?Sure,thereissomegaininrawexecutionspeed,andcompiler constructionisinterestingforacademicwork.Butweclaimthatindailylifeawell- designed\interpreter"canoftenoutperformacompiledsystem. Youunderstandthatwearenotreallytalkingabout\interpretation".ALispsystem immediatelyconvertsallinputtointernalpointerstructurescalled\S-Expressions".True \interpretation"woulddealwithone-dimensionalcharactercodes,considerablyslowing downtheexecutionprocess.Lisp,however,\evaluates"theS-Expressionsbyquickly followingthesepointerstructures.Therearenosearchesorlookupsinvolved,sonothing isreally\interpreted".Butoutofhabitwe'llsticktothatterm. ALispprogramasanS-Expressionformsatreeofexecutablenodes.Thecodeinthese nodesistypicallywritteninoptimizedCorassembly,sothetaskoftheinterpreteris simplytopasscontrolfromonenodetotheother.Becausemanyofthosebuilt-inlisp functionsareverypowerfulanddoalotofprocessing,mostofthetimeisspentinthe nodes.Thetreeitselffunctionsasakindofglue. ALispcompilerwillremovesomeofthatglue,andreplacesomenodeswithprimitive orowfunctionalitydirectlywithmachinecode.Butbecausemostofthetimeisspent inbuilt-infunctionsanyway,theimprovementswillnotbeasdramaticasforexample inaJavabytecodecompiler,whereeachnode(abytecode)hasjustacomparatively 2

primitivefunctionality. Ofcourse,thecompilationitselfisalsoquitetime-consuming.Anapplicationserveroften executessingle-passLispsourcelesonthey,andimmediatelydiscardsthecodewhen itisdone.Inthesecases,eithertheinherentlyslowerinterpreterofacompiler-basedLisp system,ortheadditionaltimespentbythecompilerwillnoticeabledegradetheoverall performance. PicoLisp'sinternalstructuresweredesignedforconvenientinterpretationfromthebegin- ning.ThoughitiscompletelywritteninC,andwasnotspeciallyoptimizedforspeed,a lackofperformancewasneveranissue:Therstcommercialproductionsystemwritten inPicoLispwasanimageprocessing,retouch,andpagelayoutprogramfortheprinting andpre-pressindustry,in1988,onaMacIIwitha12MHzCPUand8MBofRAM.No Lispcompiler,ofcourse,justthelowlevelpixelmanipulationsandbezierroutineswere writteninC.Eventhen,onahardwarehundredsoftimesslowerthantoday's,nobody complainedabouttheperformance. JustoutofinterestIinstalledCLisptheotherday,andcompareditwithPicoLispfor somesimplebenchmarks.Ofcourse,theresultsarenotmeanttoreecttheusefulnessof eithersystemasanapplicationserver,buttheygivearoughindicationabouttherelative performances. FirstItriedthesimplerecursivebonaccifunction:

(defunfibo(N) (if(<N2) 1 (+ (fibo(-N1)) (fibo(-N2)))))

Whencalledas

(fibo30)

,Igetthefollowingexecutiontimes(ona266MHzPentium-I notebook): Pico(interpreted)12sec CLispinterpreted37sec CLispcompiled7sec TheCLispinterpreterisaboutthreetimesslower,thecompilerroughlytwiceasfastas PicoLisp. However,thebonaccifunctionisnotagoodexampleofatypicalLispprogram.It consistsonlyofprimitiveowandarithmeticfunctions,iseasyforacompilertooptimize, andmightbewrittendirectlyin