Peter Norvig has exquisite tastes in programming, is a Lisp guru and is also a great Python hacker. Put that together and what do you get? Lis.py, an interpreter for the core of the Lisp dialect Scheme in 96 lines of Python. Norvig mentions Alan Kay’s view of Lisp as “Maxwell’s Equations of Software” in a 2004 interview with Stu Feldman:

SF: If nothing else, Lisp was carefully defined in terms of Lisp.

AK: Yes, that was the big revelation to me when I was in graduate school—when I finally understood that the half page of code on the bottom of page 13 of the Lisp 1.5 manual was Lisp in itself. These were “Maxwell’s Equations of Software!” This is the whole world of programming in a few lines that I can put my hand over.

There is also a companion essay, (How to Write a ((Better) Lisp) Interpreter (in Python)), that shows how to add other features, like macros, quasi-quote, tail recursion optimization and continuations. Sadly, this bloats the code to well over 200 lines.

This FringeDC meeting looks like fun for Lispers in the DC area.

“Conrad Barski will be presenting excerpts from his new book for community feedback. Join us at Sova Espresso & Wine for a presentation from Conrad Barski, M.D. from the new book “Land of Lisp” published by No Starch Press, due this Fall. We’ll discuss Lisp and see never-before-seen comics and game examples from the book! Afterward, we’ll be talking over some wine, coffee and food at this great little hangout in DC’s H Street Corridor.”