Can you help me to rapidly learn common lisp, emacs, and SLY? Here’s what I want to do and want a short manual for:

1. A brief description of SBCL and what the binary does
2. A brief description of quicklisp and how the system works
3. A brief description of SLY (the EMACS repl) and where it fits in
4. A hello-world example written with sly and emacs
5. Showing how to compile this hello-world to an executable on Debian

All content below is the response to this request.

Common Lisp, SBCL, Quicklisp, and SLY: A Beginner’s Guide¶

1. What is SBCL?¶

SBCL (Steel Bank Common Lisp) is a high-performance Common Lisp compiler and runtime. The sbcl binary is used to:

• Start an interactive Lisp REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop).
• Compile and run Lisp programs.
• Build standalone executables.

To install SBCL on Debian:

sudo apt install sbcl

You can start the REPL by typing:

sbcl

2. What is Quicklisp?¶

Quicklisp is a package manager for Common Lisp, similar to pip for Python. It simplifies library management.

Installing Quicklisp¶

Run the following in your terminal:

curl -O https://beta.quicklisp.org/quicklisp.lisp
sbcl --load quicklisp.lisp

Then, in the SBCL REPL:

(quicklisp-quickstart:install)
(ql:add-to-init-file) ;; Makes Quicklisp available in future sessions

Using Quicklisp¶

Load a library (e.g., cl-ppcre for regex):

(ql:quickload "cl-ppcre")

3. What is SLY?¶

SLY (Superior Lisp Interaction Mode for Emacs) is an Emacs extension for working with Lisp. It provides:

• A powerful REPL.
• Code navigation and debugging.
• Integration with SBCL.

Installing SLY in Emacs¶

1. Open Emacs and run:

   M-x package-install RET sly RET
   

2. Add this to your ~/.emacs:

   (setq inferior-lisp-program "sbcl")
   (require 'sly)
   

3. Start SLY with:

   M-x sly
   

4. Hello-World in SLY and Emacs¶

1. Open Emacs.
2. Create a file hello.lisp:

   (defun hello-world ()
     (format t "Hello, world!~%"))
   

3. Load the file in SLY:

   M-x sly
   

   Then, inside the SLY REPL:

   (load "hello.lisp")
   (hello-world)
   

5. Compiling to an Executable on Debian¶

To compile your Lisp program into a standalone binary:

1. Create hello.lisp with:

   (defun main ()
     (format t "Hello, world!~%"))
   
   (sb-ext:save-lisp-and-die "hello" :toplevel #'main :executable t)
   

2. Compile it with SBCL:

   sbcl --script hello.lisp
   

3. Run the generated binary:

   ./hello
   

This should get you started! Let me know if you need refinements or additions. 🚀