Editing Lisp machine (section)

{{Short description|Computer specialized in running Lisp}}
{{about |the type of computer|the company|Lisp Machines}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}

[[File:LISP machine.jpg|thumb|A Knight machine preserved in the [[MIT Museum]]]]
'''Lisp machines''' are general-purpose computers designed to efficiently run [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] as their main software and [[programming language]], usually via hardware support. They are an example of a [[high-level language computer architecture]]. In a sense, they were the first commercial single-user [[workstation]]s. Despite being modest in number (perhaps 7,000 units total as of 1988<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newquist |first=H.P. |date=1 March 1994 |title=The Brain Makers |publisher=Sams Publishing |isbn=978-0672304125}}</ref>) Lisp machines commercially pioneered many now-commonplace technologies, including [[windowing system]]s, [[Mouse (computing)|computer mice]], high-resolution bit-mapped [[raster graphics]], computer graphic rendering, [[laser printing]], networking innovations such as [[Chaosnet]], and effective [[Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Target |first=Sinclair |date=30 September 2018 |url=https://twobithistory.org/2018/09/30/chaosnet.html |title=A Short History of Chaosnet |website=Two-Bit History |access-date=6 December 2021}}</ref> Several firms built and sold Lisp machines in the 1980s: [[Symbolics]] (3600, 3640, XL1200, MacIvory, and other models), [[Lisp Machines]] Incorporated (LMI Lambda), [[Texas Instruments]] ([[TI Explorer|Explorer, MicroExplorer]]), and [[Xerox]] ([[Interlisp]]-D workstations). The operating systems were written in [[Lisp Machine Lisp]], Interlisp (Xerox), and later partly in [[Common Lisp]].

[[File:Symbolics3640 Modified.JPG|thumb|right|Symbolics 3640 Lisp machine]]