Lambda the Ultimate

Based on the progress I’ve made with FORTRAN, I decided to start another effort at the Computer History Museum to track down source code and documents for the original M.I.T. LISP I/1.5 project. I have made some progress, and am assembling a LISP web site at the Museum to organize and present the materials I’ve collected so far, including:

• LISP 1.5: Assembly listing for IBM 709/7090 standalone system, and another for the CTSS port. Information about various other ports and reimplementations including Univac M-460, Q-32, and Univac 1108.
• PDP-1 Lisp: links to the documentation, source code and simulators
• MacLisp (PDP-6, PDP-10): links to documentatation and source code
• BBN-LISP: the manual for the original PDP-1 version and the Tenex version (coming soon: preliminary specifications for the 940 version)
• etc.

My hope for this project is to provide open online access to as much information as possible for students, historians, and other interested people.

Your comments are welcome (here, at my blog Dusty Decks, or by email. What am I missing? What facts have I gotten wrong? Please help fill in the gaps.

I do think that professional tools can help dynamic languages consolidate the ground they've been gaining. And to that end, conventional capabilities -- such as suport for testing, debugging, and version control -- will be prerequisites. But dynamic languages really are different in important ways, and their tools should be as well. It's time for some fresh thinking on this topic, and for some new approaches.

Jon also mentions DSLs, stratified design and Patrick Logan (who used to post here more often, and will be welcomed back should he choose to return...)