Currently flipping bits and rotating qubits. Advocate of open-source math software. You'll often catch me Lisping (or playing piano).

Los Angeles, CA
Joined August 2010
'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Your periodic reminder @stylewarning’s Coalton is worth spending a fair amount of time with to see what Common Lisp + HM type system + only a couple of key GHC extensions can do.
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
So perfect, it's got to be a schtick.
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Recalling: THEY HAVE PLAYED US PROGRAMMERS FOR ABSOLUTE FOOLS credits: @stylewarning
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Just saying that no website being served by a lisp machine got hacked in the last 5 years. Security record speaks for itself.
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
There's a new IDE for Common Lisp and Coalton called Mine. I decided to show the install process and look at some of the features and made a short video about it. Now is a great time to try out Common Lisp! youtube.com/watch?v=qe3vDKQS…
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Replying to @stylewarning
love it already
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
This is mine. There are many editor like it, but this one is mine.
I am pleased to announce ✨mine✨, a complete, no-frills IDE for Coalton and Common Lisp. It's a brand new IDE that has the essential interactive programming workflow all Lispers talk about, built-in. It is the easiest way to get started with Coalton/CL for Win/Mac/Linux. 👇
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Why is LAMBDA the Ultimate <FOO>? Why does Lisp have the LAMBDA nature yet Functional Programming Languages don't? Why was Lisp at the forefront of so much innovation yet faded since the 1990s? What can we learn from Lisp, and do with it? Come listen to my talk in May in Kraków!
Also, we have our first #keynote... Lambda: the Ultimate Paradigm -- François-René Rideau @fare, Gerbil Scheme.
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
If you're a CS grad student in the US, I'll pay you a small fee to write for The Consensus. I'm especially looking for articles that compare the state of research to the state of what devs do in practice, because there are often interesting discrepancies.
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Replying to @stylewarning
"Python? you mean the CMUCL compiler?"
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Smelter update: it now runs plain Common Lisp too (!) Same zero-setup binary, two modes: 1. smt run script.coal, as before, for Coalton (typed) 2. smt cl run script.lisp, new, for Common Lisp Still no SBCL install, no Quicklisp, 42ms startup smelter.app
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Tim Sweeney
@TimSweeneyEpicJan 10
Replying to @ChShersh
Removed the collector, kept the garbage.
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Common Lisp is strongly dynamically typed. Coalton is a new language built in Common Lisp that is statically typed (based on the type system from Haskell). An almighty language for almighty developers.
One of the longest running schisms in programming is that of static vs dynamic typing. I've heard a million arguments from both sides throughout my entire career, but seen very few of them ever convinced anyone of anything. As rationalizations masquerading as reason rarely do in matters of faith. The rider will always justify the way of the elephant. That's not to say there aren't people who've switched camps. In fact, such individuals usually shout the loudest rationalizations of all. Often with the charm of a livelong omnivore suddenly turning vegan or a traditional banker who caught a lucky ride on crypto. The shorter the faith, the brighter the flame. Personally, I'm unashamedly a dynamic typing kind of guy. That's why I love Ruby so very much. It takes full advantage of dynamic typing to allow the poetic syntax that results in such beautiful code. To me, Ruby with explicit, static typing would be like a salad with a scoop of ice cream. They just don't go together. I'll also confess to having embraced the evangelical position for dynamic typing in the past. To the point of suffering from a One True Proposition affliction. Seeing the lack of enthusiasm for dynamic typing as a reflection of missing education, experience, or perhaps even competence. Oh what folly. Like trying to convince an introvert that they'd really like parties if they'd just loosen up a bit. That actually it's really fun to be in crowded rooms, for hours on end, shouting to communicate, because how about that VIBE! These days, I've come to appreciate the magnificence of multiplicity. Programming would be an awful endeavor if we were all confined to the same paradigm. Human nature is much too varied to accept such constraint on its creativity. Could you imagine if all visual art had to be rendered in the style of cubism? Or realism? Or all novels written in the short, direct flavor of Hemmingway? What a bore it would all quickly be! It would ruin the magic of programming. This unique fusion of art and engineering. But it took a while for me to come to these conclusions. I'm a recovering solutionist. So when I see folks cross their heart in disbelief that anyone, anywhere might fancy JavaScript over TypeScript, I smile, and I remember the days when I'd recognize their zeal in the mirror. That's not to say all matters of programming approaches boil down to equal but different mindsets. There are limits to this relativism. But dynamic vs static typing is certain within its confines. So too is functional vs object-oriented programming. Poles on both these axes have shown to deliver excellent software over the decades (and awful stuff too!). Now people are blessed with a capacity to express themselves equally well from either end. Such ambidextrous nature seems rare, though, as evidenced by the utter disbelief so frequently expressed by either side that the other might hold a reasonable position. I am not ambidextrous. I do not enjoy static typing, and objects animate my mind's eye. But I have come to appreciate the fact that others illuminate their creativity with just as much intensity as I do mine, using functional programming constraints and explicitly spelled out types. As long as I never have to soil my Ruby with type hints or write all front-end code in TypeScript, I can so happily coexist with those who adore Go or can't stand JavaScript. Vive la différence!
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Replying to @stylewarning
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Replying to @stylewarning
input-chan and output-kun
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
An extremely cute kitten dies everytime your terminal renders "✨ done!" instead of big and beautiful "SUCCESS".
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Published a new linter for Common Lisp! 🎉 github.com/fukamachi/mallet
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Wake up babe, new Func Prog Podcast just dropped! I interview @stylewarning about Coalton, Common Lisp, DSLs and much more! Listen below 👇
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Added snippets/sharing to the Coalton Playground More details at abacusnoir.com/2025/09/06/co…
A thing I made: a Coalton "playground" coalton.app Browser-based Repl, to run (and see generated CL if needed)
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'(Robert Smith) retweeted
Replying to @stylewarning
In the 1960s, I would have chosen LISP. In the 1970s, I would have chosen LISP. In the 1980s, I would have chosen LISP. In the 1990s, I would have chosen LISP. In the 2000s, I would have chosen LISP. In the 2010s, I would have chosen LISP.
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