ecl(1)

ecl 💖 the Embeddable Common Lisp era

ok so bestie, pull up a chair, because we're about to talk about ecl(1) — yes, the General Commands Manual one, and yes, she's iconic. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

ecl — Embeddable Common Lisp. that's it, that's the name, she's serving exactly what it says on the tin 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ecl [-? | --help]  [-v | --version] [--debug | --nodebug]
[--dir dir] [--load file] [--shell file] [--eval expr] [--rc | --norc]
[--c-stack size] [--lisp-stack size] [--heap-size size]
[--frame-stack size]
[[-o ofile] [-c [cfile]] [-h [hfile]] [--data [datafile]] [-s] [-q]
 --compile file]
[[-o ofile] --link file+]
[--input-encoding external-format] [--output-encoding external-format]
[--error-encoding external-format] [--encoding external-format]
[--trap-fpe | --no-trap-fpe]

look at all those flags. she's got range. 💅

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so ECL — that's Embeddable Common-Lisp — is an interpreter of the Common-Lisp language, exactly as described in the X3J13 ANSI specification. and she's not just any interpreter, she's giving full CLOS (Common-Lisp Object System), conditions, loops, etc. — plus a translator to C that can produce standalone executables. main character energy fr fr 👑

ECL supports these operating systems: Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, OS X, Solaris and Windows — and she runs on top of the Intel, Sparc, Alpha, PowerPC and ARM processors. literally everywhere, no cap. 🌈

the current ECL implementation features:

• A bytecode compiler and interpreter.
• Compiles Lisp also with any C/C++ compiler
• Can build standalone executables and libraries
• ASDF, Sockets, Gray streams, MOP, and other useful components
• Extremely portable
• A reasonable license

and then — the moment you've all been waiting for — ecl with no arguments at all starts the interactive lisp session. just you and the REPL. bestie time. ✨

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -?, --help — shows the help prompt, without running ECL at all. a little peek behind the curtain 💖
• -v, --version, — prints the current version of ECL, without running ECL. (yes the comma is canon, she's just like that 🫶)
• --debug — turned on by default, this enables the debugging in the setup phase, so that you can debug your files. lowkey a lifesaver.
• --nodebug — runs without the debugging setup phase, which means errors prevent ECL from starting up. highkey strict 💀
• --dir directory — use directory as a system directory.
• --load file — load the source file before loading the .rc file and starting the toplevel.
• --shell file — executes the given file and exits, without providing a read-eval-print loop. so if you want to use lisp as a scripting language, you can write #!${exec_prefix}/bin/ecl --shell on the first line of the file you want executed, and then ECL will be automatically invoked. shebang slay 🐚
• --eval file — evaluate the file before loading the .rc file and starting the Top Level.
• --rc — load configuration files at startup (default).
• --norc — do not load configuration files at startup.
• --c-stack size — set C stack size in bytes for the C compiler.
• --lisp-stack size — set stack size in bytes for the bytecodes interpreter.
• --heap-stack size — set heap size in bytes.
• --frame-stack size — set frame stack size in bytes for runtime control structures.
• -o file — provide the output target file for compilation.
• -c cfile — when compiling, name the intermediary *.c file cfile and do not delete it afterwards. she's keeping receipts 📝
• -h hfile — when compiling, name the intermediary *.h file hfile and do not delete it afterwards.
• --data [datafile] — dumps compiler data into datafile or, if not supplied, into a file named after the source file but with .data as the extension.
• -s — produce a linkable object file. it cannot be loaded with (load), but it can be used to build libraries or standalone executable programs.
• -q — short for quiet — produce less notes. 🤫
• --compile file — translates file to C and invokes the local C compiler to produce a native code program.
• --link file+ — create a standalone executable from the Lisp files file+.
• --input-encoding encoding — specify the external encoding for standard input.
• --output-encoding encoding — specify the external encoding for standard output.
• --error-encoding encoding — specify the external encoding for standard error.
• --encoding encoding — specify the external encoding for standard input, output, trace and error.
• --trap-fpe — make the ECL debugger catch floating point exception.
• --no-trap-fpe — disable the ECL debugger floating point exception catching.

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

the original version was developed by Giuseppe Attardi, starting from the Kyoto Common Lisp implementation by Taiichi Yuasa, Masami Hagiya. further development was lead by Juan Jose Garcia Ripoll. the current maintainers of ECL are Daniel Kochmański and Marius Gerbershagen, who can be reached at the ECL mailing list. legends, every single one 💜

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🦋 FILES 🦋

• ~/.ecl, ~/.eclrc — default initialization files loaded at startup unless the option --norc is provided (if they exist).

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🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

• ANSI Common Lisp standard X3.226-1994
• The Common Lisp HyperSpec

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💀 BUGS 💀

unfortunately it is possible that there are some bugs in the program 😭 in case you find any bug, please report it as an issue (after making sure that it hasn't been reported or fixed) to the official gitlab repository: https://gitlab.com/embeddable-common-lisp/ecl/issues

bestie pls check first, don't be that person 🙈

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⭐ LICENSE ⭐

this library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

this library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. see the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

you should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA

please report bugs, comments, suggestions to the ecl mailing list: ecl-devel@common-lisp.net (or use gitlab).

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ok that's the whole thing, you're officially educated 🎓 go forth and (format t "slay~%") 🌈✨

this page is from the General Commands Manual, dated 2021-02-01, and it's page ecl(1) — that's a wrap, ily, bye bestie 💖🎀🫶