Qlot is a project-local library installer for Common Lisp. It makes it easy to install libraries locally, without needing to copy them to the project directory.
1. Qlot: A projectlocal library installer for Common Lisp
If you’ve ever used a language with a package manager like Ruby’s Bundler, Python’s virtualenv, Node’s npm, or Java’s Maven, you know the value of having a tool that can install project-local dependencies. Common Lisp doesn’t have anything like that… until now!
Enter Qlot, a project-local library installer for Common Lisp. Qlot is inspired by Bundler, and it lets you manage your Common Lisp project’s dependencies in a similar way.
With Qlot, you can create a file called qlfile that specifies your project’s dependencies. For example, here’s a qlfile for a project that depends on the cl-json and cl-ppcre libraries:
(ql:quickload :cl-json)
(ql:quickload :cl-ppcre)
Once you have a qlfile, you can install your project’s dependencies by running qlot install. This will create a folder called .qlot in your project’s root directory, and it will install your dependencies into that folder.
Now, when you load your project’s code, you can tell Qlot to use the dependencies it installed by running qlot load before loading your code. This will ensure that the right versions of your dependencies are loaded, and it will also make sure that any code that your dependencies depend on is also loaded.
Qlot is still in its early stages, but it’s already quite useful. If you’re interested in trying it out, check out the project’s GitHub page.
2. Why use Qlot?
If you’ve ever worked on a project that depends on a lot of different Common Lisp libraries, you know that managing those dependencies can be a pain. There are a few different tools that aim to help with that, but they all have their own drawbacks. Qlot is a new tool that aims to make dependency management simple and painless.
One of the biggest advantages of Qlot is that it installs dependencies locally to your project. This means that you don’t have to worry about clashing versions of libraries, or having to install a bunch of different versions of the same library. Qlot will handle all of that for you.
Another advantage of Qlot is that it makes it easy to share your project with others. All you need to do is give them a copy of your project’s qlot.lock file, and they’ll be able to install all of the dependencies that your project needs.
If you’re looking for a simple and painless way to manage your Common Lisp dependencies, give Qlot a try.
3. How to install and use Qlot
In this section, we will go over how to install and use Qlot, a project-local library installer for Common Lisp. Qlot makes it easy to manage your Common Lisp project’s dependencies, and it also provides a convenient way to install and use those dependencies.
First, let’s take a look at how to install Qlot. You can install Qlot using Quicklisp, or you can install it manually. To install Qlot using Quicklisp, simply type the following into your REPL:
“`lisp
(ql:quickload “qlot”)
“`
If you want to install Qlot manually, you can download it from its GitHub page. Once you have downloaded the Qlot source code, you can load it into your REPL using the following command:
“`lisp
(load “path/to/qlot.lisp”)
“`
Once Qlot is installed, you can start using it to manage your project’s dependencies. To add a dependency to your project, you can use the qlot:install command. For example, to add the cl-ppcre library to your project, you would type the following into your REPL:
“`lisp
(qlot:install “cl-ppcre”)
“`
This will install the cl-ppcre library into your project’s local directory. You can then use the cl-ppcre library in your project by adding the following line to your code:
“`lisp
(ql:quickload “cl-ppcre”)
“`
You can also add multiple dependencies to your project at once by passing a list of dependency names to the qlot:install command. For example, to add the cl-ppcre and cl-json libraries to your project, you would type the following into your REPL:
“`lisp
(qlot:install ‘(“cl-ppcre” “cl-json”))
“`
Once you have added your project’s dependencies, you can use the qlot:exec command to execute a project-local binary. For example, if your project
4. Tips for using Qlot
If you’re a Common Lisp programmer, then you’re probably familiar with Quicklisp, the most popular library manager for the language. However, you may not be familiar with Qlot, which is a project-local library installer. In this blog post, I’ll give you a quick introduction to Qlot and show you how it can be used to manage your project’s dependencies.
First, let’s take a look at what Qlot is and how it works. Qlot is a project-local library installer. That means that it installs libraries into your project’s local directory, rather than into a global location. This has a few advantages. First, it means that your project’s dependencies are isolated from other projects. Second, it makes it easy to manage different versions of the same library. And third, it makes it easy to install and update libraries from a common Lisp REPL.
So how do you use Qlot? First, you need to create a file called “qlot.conf” in your project’s root directory. This file will contain the configuration for your project’s dependencies. Here’s a simple example:
(qlot:declare-project #:project-name “my-project”
#:project-version “1.0.0”
#:source-registry ‘((“quicklisp” . “http://quicklisp.org/beta/”)))
This declares a project with the name “my-project” and version “1.0.0”. It also configures a source registry, which is where Qlot will look for libraries. In this case, we’re using the Quicklisp beta registry.
Next, we need to tell Qlot which libraries our project depends on. We do this by adding a “depends-on” form to our “qlot.conf” file:
(qlot:declare-project #:project-name “my-project”
#:project-version “1.0.0”
#:source-registry ‘((“quicklisp” . “http://quicklisp.org/beta/”)))
5. Further reading
If you’re looking for more information on Qlot, here are five great resources to check out:
1. The Qlot website: This is the best place to start if you’re new to Qlot. It provides an overview of what Qlot is and how it works, as well as links to other resources.
2. The Qlot GitHub page: This is the official home of Qlot, and it’s where you’ll find the latest code and releases. If you’re a developer, this is also the place to submit bug reports and feature requests.
3. The Qlot Quickstart Guide: This guide provides a step-by-step tutorial for setting up and using Qlot. It’s a great resource if you’re just getting started with Qlot.
4. The Qlot Cookbook: This collection of recipes covers a variety of topics, from setting up a development environment to packaging and deploying your applications.
5. The Qlot mailing list: This is the best place to ask questions and get help from the Qlot community. If you’re stuck, someone on the mailing list will likely be able to help you out.