New Projects

Here’s a short guide on what you should do for a single project.

One-file project, no dependencies

A one-file project has these characteristics:

  • Simple
  • Usually presented in Lisp textbooks
  • Usually not realistic.

One file project, uses libraries

  • Small system.
  • Relatively common
  • An example is the web-trotter program.

Introduction to ASDF

ASDF, also known as Another System Definition Facility, is the modern way for defining Common Lisp libraries. It is fully supported by Quicklisp, and supports adding your own private libraries.

ASDF depends on two things:

  • ASDF configured to know where this repository is; here’s a configuration from one of my SBCL init files, specifying that the ASDF repository lives in the ~/asdf/ folder.
(pushnew "~/asdf/" asdf:*central-registry* :test #'equal)
  • Repository for local libraries with the ASD files symlinked in: here’s a example of a ls of my repository:
$ ls -1 ~/asdf
batteries.asd
cl-finance-query.asd
cl-yahoo-finance-query.asd
defobject.asd

ASD files are ASDF library definition files.

Here is a copy of the contents a library’s ASD file:


(asdf:defsystem #:cl-yahoo-finance
  :depends-on ( #:drakma #:babel #:cl-csv #:yason #:url-rewrite)
  :components ((:file "cl-yahoo-finance"))
  :name "cl-yahoo-finance"
  :version "3.3"
  :maintainer "Paul Nathan"
  :author "Paul Nathan"
  :license "LLGPL"
  :description "CL interface to Yahoo's finance API"
  :long-description "Common Lisp interface to Yahoo's finance API, available over the web. See usage.lisp for example code.")

Briefly, it defines an ASDF system named :cl-yahoo-finance, along with its dependencies, components, and some human metadata. This integrates with Quicklisp such that I can (ql:quickload :cl-yahoo-finance and have it load.

One file library project

  • Will export ASDF dependencies
  • Will be usable by Quicklisp

Multifile project.

  • ASDF heavily used
  • Quicklisp heavily used
  • Packages, Systems, O My

Quickproject

You can easily setup a project with Xach’s Quickproject.

(ql:quickload "quickproject")
(quickproject:make-project "~/quicklisp/local-projects/cl-yahoo-finance/"
                           :depends-on '(drakma babel cl-csv yason url-rewrite)
                           :author "Paul Nathan"
                           :license "LLGPL"
                           :name "cl-yahoo-finance")
$ ls ~/quicklisp/local-projects/cl-yahoo-finance/
README.txt
package.lisp
cl-yahoo-finance.asd
cl-yahoo-finance.lisp

Any system you put in Quicklisp’s “local-projects” is quickloadable:

(ql:quickload :cl-yahoo-finance)

Happy hacking!

λ