Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!SUSHI.STANFORD.EDU!GCOLE From: GCOLE@SUSHI.STANFORD.EDU (George S. Cole) Newsgroups: comp.ai.digest Subject: Re: AIList V5 #280 - Robot Kits, Mac ES Tools, Scientific Method Message-ID: <12356608461.22.GCOLE@Sushi.Stanford.EDU> Date: 7 Dec 87 17:17:32 GMT References:Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 26 Approved: ailist@kl.sri.com Re: Expert System Shells for the Mac: Tools to Build the Tool The paucity of shells for the Macintosh is puzzling. There are three language environments which can be used to build such a shell currently on the market: (1) AAIS Prolog; (2) Expertelligence's ExperCommonLisp, and (3) Allegro Common LISP from Coral Software. AAIS Prolog is the least expensive of the three -- but contains the least support for moving beyond the language. The price is below $200 (as part of a class purchase, we were able to buy it for $70 a copy). Tying new resources into the system will require some Mac-hacking. ExperCommonLisp comes in two varieties: plain (~$200) and chocolate (~$800). It is an extension to LISP that allows object-oriented programming, but lacks type-casting features. The debugger works on the compiled code rather than the interpreted code, which can be puzzling. The expensive version is supposed to produce stand-alone applications (but I have only used the language). Allegro Common LISP falls into the mid-range (~$490). It is also an extension to Common LISP that allows object-oriented programming, contains the full type-casting power, and is a better implementation by far. However, it demands 2 megabytes (5 for us cautious types) and does not yet have the "stand-alone application" power, though this is promised for the future. George S. Cole, Esq. GCole@sushi.stanford.edu 793 Nash Av. Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 322-7760 -------