8thString

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Using Emacs as editor for SBCL on Ubuntu 26.04

Version info:

OS: Ubuntu 26.04
Emacs: 30.2
SBCL: 2.6.0

Install Emacs and SBCL as needed:

$: sudo apt install emacs
$: sudo apt install sbcl

Configure Emacs with SLY (Sylvester the Cat's Common Lisp IDE for Emacs), fire up Emacs and do:

Install Sly package in Emacs

M-x package-refresh-contents
M-x package-install RET sly RET

Create or edit Emacs configuration file

M-: (find-file user-init-file)

.emacs

Restart Emacs
Load SLY

M-x sly RET

Below shows SLY with SBCL loaded.

Using Emacs as editor for SBCL on Windows 10

Emacs is installed in C:\emacs, using version 30.2. I run it using C:\emacs\bin\runemacs.exe.

SBCL version 2.6.4 (sbcl-2.6.4-x86-64-windows-binary.msi) is installed in C:\Program Files\Steel Bank Common Lisp

Install Sly package in Emacs

M-x package-refresh-contents
M-x package-install RET sly RET

Create or edit ~/.emacs.d/init.el
Edit or replace contents like below

Restart Emacs
Load Sly

M-x sly RET

Note: Verify that you are not using ~/.emacs, otherwise it will not load configration from ~/.emacs.d/init.el

Below shows SLY with SBCL loaded.

I am having issues running code below on Windows 10, it seems the input is buffered. Pressing RET does not properly go to the next prompt.

(defun prompt-for-cd ()
  (make-cd
   (prompt-read "Title")
   (prompt-read "Artist")
   (or (parse-integer (prompt-read "Rating") :junk-allowed t) 0)
   (y-or-n-p "Ripped [y/n]: ")))

There is a workaround for the above bug, see below:
https://github.com/joaotavora/sly/commit/5a05c033197693462e67004549c24e0676eed53b

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Emacs common commands

Character Operations:
DELETE : Delete character to the left of point (Also marked ROBOUT)
C-d : Delete character to the right of (or under) point

Word Operations:
M-d : Delete one word to the right (C-y yanks it back at point)
Cursor movement:
C-p    : Move to the previous line
C-n    : Move to the next line
C-f    : Move forward one char
C-b    : Move backward one char
M-f    : Move forward one word
M-b    : Move backward one word
C-a    : Move cursor beggining of the line
C-e    : Move cursor end of the line
M->    : End of file
M-<    : Beginning of file

Line operations:
M-m : Move point to the first non-space in the line

Copying Text:
M-w     : Runs command kill-ring-save. This is like copy in Windows editors

Deleting Text:

C-SPC select text C-w	Delete selected text
M-d	Kill the next word after the cursor

Searching for text:
C-s : Incremental search forward
C-r : Incremental search backward

Misc commands

M-: user-init-file	Show the configuration file used by Emacs in the echo area
M-: (find-file user-init-file)	Edit user configuratin file

Convenience functions:
C-[number][char]
        : Repeat [char] [number] of times. Example C-8-0 1, repeat 1 80 times.

Dictionary:
M-$     : Check and correct spelling for the word at point

Others:
count-lines-region
        : Count number line and chars for the selected text
untabify
        : Change tabs to space for the currently selected region

Python mode specific shortcuts:
M-/ : Command abbreviation expand
C-M-i : Complete partial symbol or Intellisense in VS speak

Links:
Emacs Keyboard keys (link)

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Fedora install screen chronicle

Fedora 43 Workstation installation screen capture

Just an itch, wanted to see how Fedora 43 Workstation looks like. For other versions see here

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Zig basic Windows application using win32 API

Info:
OS: Windows 10 IoT LTSC 2021
Zig: 0.15.2

Sample application using zigwin32, Windows API to create basic window that does nothing. It calls the following win32 API functions:
- LoadCursorW
- RegisterClassW
- GetLastError
- CreateWindowExW
- ShowWindow
- GetMessageW
- TranslateMessage
- DispatchMessageW
- DefWindowProcw
And windows WindoProc function for pumping messages.

Create a Zig application, like:

PS C:\prj\> mkdir hellowindow
PS C:\prj\> cd hellowindow
PS C:\prj\hellowindow> zig init

Modify build.zig to add zigwin32. See lines 86-91 in gist below. Update src/main.zig to look like below. Checkout zigwin32 into the root of the project

PS C:\prj\hellowindow> git clone https://github.com/marlersoft/zigwin32 libs/zigwin32

Now do a build:

PS C:\prj\hellowindow> zig build

Or do a release build that produces the smallest binary:

PS C:\prj\hellowindow> zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall

Demo how to use zigwin32 in your zig application

Create a Zig application, like:

PS C:\prj\zigwin32test> zig init

Modify build.zig to add zigwin32. See lines 68-72 in gist below. Update src/main.zig to look like below. Checkout zigwin32 into the root of the project

PS C:\prj\zigwin32test> git clone https://github.com/marlersoft/zigwin32 libs/zigwin32

Now do a build:

PS C:\prj\zigwin32test> zig build run

Reference:
https://github.com/myZig/zigwin32test