Graphics Livecoding in Common Lisp

Graphics livecoding in Common Lisp Tags: lisp programming artsy Some Lisps, like Common Lisp, have a powerful feature that tends to go underappreciated amidst all the talk about macros: the ability to recompile your program while it's running, without restarting it. For the purposes of this post, and because it sounds cool, let's call this ability livecoding. Entering this strange land where the programs never stop, we'll first take a brief tour of Common Lisp and one of its graphics frameworks, Sketch, before walking through a livecoded implementation of the Boids algorithm. Boids! "Wait, what exactly is this livecoding thing?" Consider the typical workflow needed to modify a running application, like a videogame. Stop the application. Change the code. (If a compiled language) Wait N time units for a full recompilation. Start the application again. Fiddle with the application to get it back to its previous state. Carry on. In a livecoding environment, the application is never ... Read full article.