Tuesday  2 July 2024

Clisp static site builder working
=================================

Recently I started building a replacement for my static site builder,
this time in Clisp. Like I wrote before [1], I wanted to play a bit
with Clisp, and it is a nice project to gain more experience.

The writing of the code was interrupted by a few camping trips, it is
summer after all. Today I completed the project with building the
functionality to create the RSS feed.

Performance
-----------
The performance of this new builder, compiled with Clisp, is not very
convincing. Curious, I started it with the use of `time', which showed
the building of the site takes 48 seconds.

The idea is that the new builder replaces my previous created builder,
which runs in SBCL. For comparison, I let this SBCL run also with the
use of `time'. It showed the build takes 2,2 seconds.

During the coding sessions, I tested parts of the code with the REPL,
and I discovered that the Markdown to HTML conversion takes the most
time. All other functionality operates at the blink of an eye.

My guess is that the new builder will run significantly faster if
compiled using SBCL. The SBCL compiler has a reputation for producing
fast code and is threaded. Clisp is not that sophisticated.

Both the prior and new builder create the entire website, including
the tags page, individual tag pages, and RSS feed. The previous
version built it so quickly that I didn't care to construct only the
pages that were new or needed to be recreated.

Of course, just 48 seconds the build the complete web site is still
great, when compared with scripted site builders like ikiwiki.

Package system
--------------
I use a FreeBSD jail specific for working with Clisp. For the Clisp
projects I use the Quicklisp local-projects mechanism. New projects
are created with a simple quicklisp command. This creates a small
directory tree for the project under ~/quicklisp/local-projects,
including an asd-file with a `defsystem' command, README files, and a
`src'-subdirectory.

Using this method, I have created a few Common Lisp projects, and
decided to adopt this workflow.

I haven't set that up in the jail that I use for working with SBCL.
This is a (small) project for the coming days, After that, I can
discover how fast the new program will run when compiled with SBCL.

Something to look forward to :)

[1]: gopher://box.matto.nl/0/coding-in-elisp-and-common-lisp-enhances-your-skills-in-both.txt


Last edited: $Date: 2024/07/02 21:04:07 $