Integrated LISP Optimiser

As AutoCAD AutoLISP is based on an old XLisp dialect, from mid 80th, it lacks a large amount of fundamental Lisp core functionality, which is standard in more recent Lisp dialects. In result, AutoLISP based applications must implement many of this base functionality on their own, using the restricted built-in capabilities of AutoLISP.

In the end, AutoLISP application code often contains inefficient code patterns, which waste memory and performance - simply, as there is no other way to implement many often used functionality.

On the other side, the BricsCAD Lisp engine uses the state-of-the art OpenLisp core engine, which provides great performance, and a full set of modern Lisp language capabilities ... and the power of the OpenLisp core remains hidden and unused, to maintain AutoLISP compatibility.

Being faced with this kind of "conflict", the idea of the VLE function library was born - offering many missed core functionality, comfort, performance (and even compatibility with other AutoLISP compatible systems).

Knowing that Lisp developers are sometimes not able or not willing (both for many good reasons !) to adjust their application using the VLE library functions, the principle dilemma still remains ...

another idea was born : the Automatic Lisp Code Optimiser

to analyse Lisp code at load-time, detect inefficient code patterns and replace them with more efficient code patterns, fully transparent and without any effort on developer side.

The Lisp Optimiser will be extended by more code patterns with future BricsCAD versions.