Wednesday, June 03, 2026

SBCL Hello world

SBCL Hello, world!

Version info:
- OS: Windows 11 23H2 (Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.7079])
- Emacs: 30.2
- SBCL : 2.6.4
- SLIME: 2.32

Create a file called hello.lisp and update to look like below -

(write-line "Hello world!")

Below shows where SBCL is located.

c:\lang\emacs-30.2\bin>where sbcl

C:\Program Files\Steel Bank Common Lisp\sbcl.exe

Run the script like, so:

c:\lang\emacs-30.2\bin>sbcl --script c:\lang\sbclwork\hello.lisp
Hello, world!

Emacs with SLIME for interactive development with SBCL on Windows 11

Emacs with SLIME for interactive development with SBCL

Version info:
- OS: Windows 11 23H2 (Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.7079])
- Emacs: 30.2
- SBCL : 2.6.4
- SLIME: 2.32

Prep my work directories

C:\>md c:\emacs-profiles
C:\>md c:\emacs-profiles\work
C:\>copy con c:\emacs-profiles\work\init.el
^Z
        1 file(s) copied.

Run Emacs on my work directory, I have my bin files in c:\lang\emacs-30.2\bin

c:\>cd c:\lang\emacs-30.2\bin
c:\lang\emacs-30.2\bin>runemacs.exe --init-directory c:\emacs-profiles\work

Install SLIME

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

Update init.el to use SBCL
Restart Emacs and load SLIME

M-x slime RET

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)