(How to Write a (Lisp) Interpreter (in Python))

Be sure to also check "(How to Write a ((Better) Lisp) Interpreter (in Python))": http://norvig.com/lispy2.html

There are lengthy discussions every time this is submitted[0] to HN - it's one of the items that makes me think we need some sort of "Hall of Fame" or similar. There's also the follow-up[1]: (How to Write a ((Better) Lisp) Interpreter (in Python)) (norvig.com) Unsurprisingly, that also gets a good discussion when submitted[2], but since that discussion is closed, and this discussion has started again, I thought I'd re-submit that one[3] (partly as an experiment). -------- [0]…

The article uses a simplified version of Scheme as a toy Lisp, for an exercise, which is an excellent choice, but a downside is that it could be misinterpreted as characterizing Scheme well. First, there's what I think is an important distinction of idiomatic programming in Scheme, for which the first example in the article gives the wrong idea, with a noble lie: that Java code implies an immediate return, but the Scheme code does not. Were that Scheme expression…

I'm always impressed how the magic of interpreters and compilers can be explained so succinctly. Inspired by Jonesforth, I wrote a complete Lisp interpreter in a single ARM assembly file: https://github.com/marcpaq/arpilisp