Beyond Traditional Pattern Matching in Lisp

Exploring LispE: A Distinctive Take on Lisp Through Pattern Matching and Logic LispE, a modern Lisp dialect developed by Naver, introduces innovative constructs— defpat , defmacro , and defpred —that set it apart from traditional Lisp implementations like Common Lisp, Scheme, and Clojure. While Lisp dialects share a heritage of flexibility and macro systems, LispE extends this with advanced pattern matching, enhanced macro capabilities, and logic programming elements. This blog entry examines these features, comparing them to their counterparts in other Lisps with specific examples to highlight LispE’s unique approach. defpat : Pattern Matching in Function Definitions LispE’s defpat enables defining multiple functions under the same name, each triggered by a specific argument pattern. This offers a declarative way to handle polymorphism beyond type-based dispatching. LispE Example 1 (FizzBuzz): ( defun checkmod (v d) ( eq (% v d) 0 )) (defpat fizzbuzz ([integer_ (checkmod x 15 )]) ... Read full article.