This highly accessible presentation of LISP is the most comprehensive introduction to common LISP available.

Divides material into two parts; the tutorial half of the book:
* covers subject-by-subject the essential core of Common Lisp.
* sums up lessons of preceding chapters in two examples of real applications: a backward- chainer, and an embedded language for object-oriented programming.

An outstanding reference consisting of three appendices, the summary half of the text:
* gives source code for a widely used Common Lisp operators, with definitions that offer a comprehensive explanation of the language and provide a rich source of real examples.
* summarizes differences between ANSI Common Lisp and Common Lisp as it was originally defined in 1984.
* contains a concise description of every function, macro, and special operator in ANSI Common Lisp.

Concludes with a section of notes containing clarifications, references, and additional code.
Annotation

Teaching users new and more powerful ways of thinking about programs, this two-in-one text contains a tutorial - full of examples - that explains all the essential concepts of Lisp programming, plus an up-to-date summary of ANSI Common Lisp. Informative and fun, it gives users everything they need to start writing programs in Lisp and highlights innovative Lisp features.