<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968"><title>Chapter 1. System building</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="ecl.css" type="text/css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.75.2"><link rel="home" href="index.html" title="The ECL manual"><link rel="up" href="pt02.html" title="Part II. Extensions and libraries"><link rel="prev" href="pt02.html" title="Part II. Extensions and libraries"><link rel="next" href="ch16s02.html" title="1.2. System definition files"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter 1. System building</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="pt02.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Part II. Extensions and libraries</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ch16s02.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="chapter" title="Chapter 1. System building"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="ext.asdf"></a>Chapter 1. System building</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="ch16.html#ext.asdf.intro">1.1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="ch16s02.html">1.2. System definition files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="ch16s03.html">1.3. Practical examples</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="ch16s04.html">1.4. ASDF Reference</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="refentrytitle"><a href="re03.html"><code class="function">asdf:make-build</code></a></span><span class="refpurpose"> — Block-build an <span class="application">ASDF</span> system definition</span></dt><dt><span class="refentrytitle"><a href="re04.html"><code class="function">asdf:load-fasl-op</code></a></span><span class="refpurpose"> — Compile and load one ore more libraries using unified <acronym class="acronym">FASL</acronym></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="section" title="1.1. Introduction"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="ext.asdf.intro"></a>1.1. Introduction</h2></div></div></div><p>A typical application will consist of multiple lisp files that have to
be compiled and which will probably be linked to additional, third party
libraries, either written themselves in Common Lisp or shipped as foreign C
or C++ dynamically or statically linked lirbaries. Not only loading these
files into a running <span class="application">ECL</span> can be a slow process in some platforms, but
shipping code in the form of multiple binaries and a script to load them is
far from optimal.</p><p>Tratidionally, Common Lisp implemenations have provided a function to
save the dump all data from a running Lisp process into a file. The result
was called the Lisp image and could be shipped to other version compatible
implementations.Nowadays, having less control of the systems it runs in, a Lisp
implementation must work very hard to dump memory images and be able to load
and execute them afterwards.</p><p><span class="application">ECL</span> has chosen to avoid this process entirely. Instead, we conceive
five different portable models for building and shippin your programs. The
models, described in <a class="xref" href="ch16.html#table.make-build" title="Table 1.1. Code distribution models">Table 1.1</a>, enumerate the
different kinds of files that <span class="application">ECL</span> can portably produce. To get one or more
of the products mentioned in the table, you may resort to a low level
<acronym class="acronym">API</acronym> described in <a class="xref" href="pt03.html" title="Part III. Internals">Part III</a>. However, we recommend a simpler way based on
using System Definition Files to describe the structure of your project and
let <span class="application">ECL</span> build the desired target for you. This approach is described in the
following sections.</p><div class="table"><a name="table.make-build"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 1.1. Code distribution models</b></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Code distribution models" border="1"><colgroup><col><col><col><col></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Model</th><th>Description</th><th><span class="symbol">:TYPE</span></th><th><span class="symbol">:MONOLITHIC</span></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Source code</td><td><p>You distribute your programs in source code form. This is
the easiest and most portable way, but not the fastest
one.</p></td><td>NA</td><td>NA</td></tr><tr><td><acronym class="acronym">FASL</acronym> or loadable file</td><td><p>Best suited for development. You translate all lisp code to
C and link it against possibly other C/C++ libraries to obtain a single
binary file with extension <code class="filename">.fas</code>, like the compiled
files you obtain from using <code class="function">compile-file</code>. This
"unified" <acronym class="acronym">FASL</acronym> can be loaded a startup time to add new functionality to
the <span class="application">ECL</span> environment.</p></td><td><span class="symbol">:FASL</span></td><td><span class="symbol">T</span>/<span class="symbol">NIL</span></td></tr><tr><td>Standalone program</td><td><p>Product shipping for final user. You translate all your lisp
code to C using the <span class="application">ECL</span> compiler. The final object files can be linked
against other C/C++ libraries to obtain a standalone executable.</p></td><td><span class="symbol">:PROGRAM</span></td><td>T</td></tr><tr><td>Statically linked library</td><td><p>For embedding purposes. You translate all your lisp code to
C and combine the resulting object files into a single library with
<code class="filename">.a</code> or <code class="filename">.lib</code> extension. You can
distribute this library to other people and the final users can utilize
these libraries to build standalone programs.</p></td><td><span class="symbol">:LIB</span></td><td><span class="symbol">T</span>/<span class="symbol">NIL</span></td></tr><tr><td>Dynamically linked library</td><td><p>For embedding purposes. Similar to a statically linked
library, but it is loaded at run time by the operating system and can be
shared by more than one instance of a program.</p></td><td><span class="symbol">:LIB</span></td><td><span class="symbol">T</span>/<span class="symbol">NIL</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break"></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="pt02.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="pt02.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ch16s02.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Part II. Extensions and libraries </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 1.2. System definition files</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
