Steel Bank Common Lisp
Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is a high-performance, open-source Common Lisp compiler offering a rich interactive development environment. Its strong feature set, including a debugger and profiler, makes it a favored choice among Lisp enthusiasts. This surfacing on HN highlights the community's enduring appreciation for robust, powerful, and free software development tools.
The Lowdown
Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) stands out as a high-performance, open-source implementation of the Common Lisp programming language. Beyond just a compiler, it provides a comprehensive toolkit for developers, emphasizing efficiency and robust functionality.
- Open Source & Permissive: It is free and open-source software, distributed under a permissive license.
- Rich Environment: Includes an interactive environment featuring a debugger, a statistical profiler, and a code coverage tool.
- Cross-Platform Support: Runs on Linux, various BSDs, macOS, Solaris, and Windows.
- Latest Release: The most recent version, SBCL 2.6.1, was released on January 26, 2026.
- Documentation: Comprehensive manual available in HTML and PDF formats.
- Bug Reporting: Users can report bugs directly via Launchpad or through a dedicated mailing list.
In essence, SBCL continues to be a cornerstone for serious Common Lisp development, offering a powerful, well-maintained, and freely available environment for a wide range of applications across multiple operating systems.