Resources for programmers in other languages, managers or other interested parties looking to evaluate Lisp: Half of the links on this page are broken.

Case studies

DNS Message Decoding - A Case Study Comparing Java and Common Lisp (by Dave Roberts)

A study comparing two implementations of a DNS resolver library written in Common Lisp and Java.

Lisp as an Alternative to Java (by Erann Gat)

A study, inspired by previous literature, comparing the performance and development time of Java, C/C++ and Common Lisp/Scheme versions of a test program. Peter Norvig later supplied an additional implementation in Common Lisp of the test program used in the study.

Lisp as an Alternative to Java (by Peter Norvig)

Peter Norvig adds some of his own comments (and code) to the "Lisp as an Alternative to Java" article by Erann Gat (listed above).

The Planning and Scheduling Working Group Report on Programming Languages

The results of a study undertaken at the Space Telescope Science Institute by the Planning and Scheduling Working Group in order to evaluate the applicability of various programming languages (Common Lisp, Python, Java and C++) to their astronomical planning and scheduling systems. The report discusses the reasons why Lisp is considered the best language for their needs. The group later issued a final report.

Analysis

On The Internet Nobody Knows You're a Lambda

"This paper attempts to point out some of the opportunities and some of the challenges that face developers who want to use languages like Lisp and Scheme to write the next generation of web-based applications."

The Lisp Difference

Bill Clementson explains why Lisp is different: its ability to create Domain Specific Languages.

Practical Lisp: What are you working on, really? (comp.lang.lisp thread)

What people are actually using Lisp for.

How to make money with Lisp (by Bill Clementson)

A discussion of the 10 best business ideas of 2003 (based on a weblog posting by Dave Pollard), and how well-positioned Lisp is in some of these areas.

Beating the Averages (by Paul Graham)

The author tells how he used Common Lisp to create Viaweb, a highly successful e-commerce site later purchased by Yahoo! and renamed Yahoo! Store.

Python for Lisp Programmers (by Peter Norvig)

An essay comparing Python to Lisp.

Revenge of the Nerds (by Paul Graham)

The paper discusses the reasons of Lisp's power, when that power is needed, and why such issues are often ignored.

Lisp Power and Functionality Still a Well-Kept Secret (by International Technology & Trade Associates, Inc)

A Lisp user survey that appeared in PCAI Magazine that evaluated the perceived strengths and weaknesses of programming in Lisp. The link is to the summary report. The more detailed survey results and findings are here.

Choice of Language and Programmer Availability (by Erik Naggum)

Here's a wonderfully cautionary tale from Erik Naggum on the old saw of programmer availability and the problems of using non-mainstream languages, harvested from usenet.

Why Choose Lisp (by Richard Gabriel)

A response by Richard Gabriel on the Feyerabend Project mailing list to a question from a poster about why should a manager choose to use Lisp when a) you don't get enough people, b) those people you get cost too much, c) you are incompatible with the rest of the world, d) adapters and bug-fixes will always be last for you.

Why Learn Lisp? (by Bill Clementson)

Collection of quotes that illustrate why it is worthwhile to learn Lisp.

Common Lisp - Myths and Legends (Xanalys)

A summary of some of the myths and legends surrounding Lisp with some good examples of the types of development scenarios which are very well suited for Lisp.

Languages For the Masses and Languages For Smart People (by Mike Vanier)

A very good summary of the differences in building a programming language that will be used by "everyone" versus a programming language that will be used by very smart programmers.

Extremely Successful Software (by Kenneth Dickey)

Some software projects are orders of magnitude more successful than others. Here is the story of one such project and why things went so well.

Pascal Costanza's Highly Opinionated Guide to Lisp (by Pascal Costanza)

A newcomer to Lisp presents a very well researched summary of the things that make Lisp different from other programming languages.

My experience with Common Lisp (by Jon Howard)

A Slashdot posting by a Franz employee that describes his first experiences with Common Lisp and how the language helped him become a better programmer and more effective in his job.

Kent M. Pitman Answers On Lisp and Much More (by Kent Pitman)

Kent Pitman gave answers to a whole series of questions about Lisp in this Slashdot article as well as a follow-up one.

Why Lisp? (by Larry Hunter)

Larry Hunter talks about why he uses Lisp for Bioinformatics research. (PowerPoint format)

Comparing Lisp and Python (by Karl A. Krueger)

An interesting list of some of the similarities and differences between the two languages by someone coming from a Python background.

The Right Tool For The Job (by Sam Steingold)

A discussion of why Lisp is a good tool.