Putting Lisp to Work: From Hacker News to OS Implementation

Lisp is often thought of as an "academic" language, but in reality, it is used in demanding production environments and extreme system programming.

Practical Applications

In this article, we introduce how Lisp is used in "battle" in modern software development, along with concrete examples.

Hacker News now runs on Common Lisp — Proof of utility and performance when operating a very high-traffic site with Common Lisp.
Mezzano - Operating System in Common Lisp — An OS written in Lisp from the kernel to the drivers. Evidence that Lisp can handle system programming.
SBCL - Steel Bank Common Lisp — Known for its very fast compiled code, it is the backbone of modern Common Lisp production usage.
CIEL - Common Lisp Extended — A modern Common Lisp environment that integrates libraries and aims to be "batteries included" like Python.
uLisp Performance — Benchmarks and practicality of running Lisp in tiny environments (like Arduino).
Aly - Lisp Parser Combinator Library — The flexibility of parser construction using Lisp and a strong foundation for domain-specific language development.