Documentation on the various compilation options

[Anzus]

I wonder if we need better documentation on the various compilation options. We've got IL:TCOMPL, IL:BCOMPL, CL:COMPILE-FILE, CL:FAKE-COMPILE-FILE and I suspect it can be confusing which one should be used in which situation.

[MattHeffron]

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________________________________ From: Arun Welch ***@***.***> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:25:03 PM To: Interlisp/medley ***@***.***> Cc: Subscribed ***@***.***> Subject: [Interlisp.org] Documentation on the various compilation options (Discussion #2337) I wonder if we need better documentation on the various compilation options. We've got IL:TCOMPL, IL:BCOMPL, CL:COMPILE-FILE, CL:FAKE-COMPILE-FILE and I suspect it can be confusing which one should be used in which situation. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#2337>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB7BB4SHQISX6WPMUR5UBHT32KF37AVCNFSM6AAAAACKW4SJ7SVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ERDJONRXK43TNFXW4OZZGA4TANRQGI>. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[pamoroso]

Agreed, I wonder what CL:FAKE-COMPILE-FILE does.

[RyanBurnside]

I've been curious with this myself. What is the line in the sand that determines the correct compiler to call when the environment itself is a hybrid of 2 dialects - even going into the same function.

[masinter]

there is some history here that I haven't discovered the details of. This should be in the medley release notes but I haven't serched. My understanding currently is:

• There are 'two' compilers but they are not exactly "Interlisp vs. Common Lisp": CL:COMPILE and CL:COMPILE_FILE can compile and optimize code written with or without lexical vs. dynamic scoping, use of DEFINEQ vs. DEFUN, etc. and produce DFASL files. DFASL files support publishing definitions and package handling better thab LCOM files, but DFASL files don't (currently) support LOADFNS. I think DFASL files load faster than LCOM files because they intern symbols once per file and rely on the DFASL files containing lists of places to insert the symbols (to use the Commoon Lisp symbol intern == Interlisp atom mkatom.

• the intent was to replace the BCOMPL/TCOMPL LCOM files with CL:COMPILE-FILE DFASL files, but there were some files where that didn't work.... I think the problem had something to do with LOADing the initial files that make up the INIT sysout and then LOADing the DFASL loader.

• TCOMPL/BCOMPL only compile DEFINEQ expressions and not any other kinds of code that is run at LOAD time, including DEFUN, DEFMETHOD, RECORD expressions etc. which are all executed interpreted when the LCOM is loaded. FAKE-COMPILE-FILE seems to be a hybrid mainly to deal with those by macro-expanding and compiling those expressions too.

Most users should use CL:COMPILE-FILE and DFASL files. I think the use of LCOM and BCOMPL / TCOMPL should be limited and not recommended.

[masinter]

@pamoroso there is no CL:FAKE-COMPILE-FILE, it's an IL function.