Lispcompatible

Lispcompatible is a term used to describe software—languages, runtimes, or tooling—that aim to be compatible with the Lisp family. At its core, it denotes an ability to work with Lisp code or Lisp-style concepts closely enough to allow parsing, evaluation, transformation, or interoperation with Lisp libraries and tooling.

In practice, Lisp compatibility can occur at several levels. It may refer to native Lisp dialects that implement the Lisp language with features such as s-expressions, a macro system, and dynamic evaluation; it may describe compatibility layers or embeddable runtimes that run Lisp code inside another host language; or it may describe languages that provide Lisp-like syntax or macro facilities without claiming full compatibility with a specific Lisp standard.

Common criteria associated with Lispcompatible design include support for parsing and emitting s-expressions, homoiconicity (code as data), a Lisp-style macro system (potentially with hygienic or traditional macros), core evaluation semantics and special forms, and the ability to interoperate with Lisp symbols, packages, and libraries. These features enable Lisp code to be embedded, translated, or extended within the host environment.

Examples and scope vary. Common Lisp, Scheme, and Clojure are Lisp dialects designed with Lisp syntax in mind, each with its own compatibility boundaries relative to one another. Emacs Lisp serves as a Lisp used inside the Emacs environment. Other languages may offer Lisp compatibility through interop layers, embeddable interpreters, or transpilation pipelines, rather than full dialect-wide compatibility.

Notes: the term is used variably, and true cross-dialect compatibility is uncommon due to differences in macro systems, libraries, and runtime models.