What is Lisp written in?
The Lisp compiler is written in Assembly (well-documented). Lisp is self-hosting.
Relationship Graph
All directly connected languages. Click any node to navigate to its page.
Compiler Implementation
| Language | Confidence | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | 95% | Original Lisp interpreter written in IBM 704 assembly by Steve Russell | Source |
Languages Lisp Influenced
- Scheme — Scheme is a minimalist Lisp dialect
- Common Lisp — Common Lisp standardized multiple Lisp dialects
- Clojure — Clojure is a Lisp dialect on the JVM
- JavaScript — Brendan Eich originally aimed for Scheme in the browser
- Ruby — Ruby influenced by Lisp's expression-oriented style
- Python — Lisp influenced Python's functional features (map, filter, reduce)
- ML — ML influenced by Lisp in interactive style
- Haskell — Lisp influenced Haskell's functional paradigm
- R — R's functional programming influenced by Lisp/Scheme
- Scala — Scala's S-expressions and macros influenced by Lisp
- Julia — Julia uses Lisp-style macros
- Tcl — Tcl influenced by Lisp's command structure
Frequently Asked Questions
What language is Lisp written in?
Lisp is primarily implemented in Assembly. See the implementation section above for details and source references.
Which languages did Lisp influence?
Lisp influenced Scheme, Common Lisp, ML among others.
Is Lisp self-hosting?
Yes, Lisp is self-hosting — its compiler can compile itself.
Evidence Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_(programming_language)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Lisp
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_(programming_language)
- https://julialang.org/blog/2012/02/why-we-created-julia/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clojure
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_(programming_language)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_(programming_language)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tcl
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scala_(programming_language)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_(programming_language)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planner_(programming_language)