What is Lisp?

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"Lisp is a programmable programming language." -John Foderaro
LISP is an acronym for LISt Processing. Its development history has often been associated with symbolic processing and with both computer and human languages. A heterogeneous list data type has always been built into the language in order to efficiently deal with arbitrary and changing models.

From this basis, a number of features have come to be expected from all members of the Lisp family of languages:

Lisp has evolved into a family of languages. The two major dialects in use today are Common Lisp and Scheme. This web site deals mostly with Common Lisp.

Pride and Prejudice: Four Decades of Lisp by Stuart Watt of the Open University gives a technical and historical introduction to Lisp in general.

Kent Pitman's More Than Just Words: Lambda, the Ultimate Political Party argues that Lisp is better defined as its community than as its various specifications.

Lisp may be combined with other languages to produce wide variety of applications.

There have been a number of comparisons between Lisp and other languages.