Liso

Liso is an alternative syntax for Lisp-like languages, implemented here for Racket.

Examples

fib[n] =
   @if n <= 1:
      n
      fib[n - 1] + fib[n - 2]

fib[30]

<=>

(= (fib n)
   (if (<= n 1)
       n
       (+ (fib (- n 1))
          (fib (- n 2)))))
(fib 30)

There are many more examples here, including examples of macros and operator macros.

Using

You can try out the first version by putting the following line at the beginning of a source file:

#lang planet breuleux/liso

For the bleeding edge version, just download the code somewhere and then put this at the beginning:

#lang reader "/path/to/liso/lang/reader.rkt"

Then, execute as follows:

racket file.liso

Highlights

It is a pure operator syntax, a particular implementation of what I call "o-expressions". I made o-expressions for a new programming language that I am designing, so they were not designed to work with Lisp-like languages. However, I believe that they are a competent alternative to s-expressions, so there is no harm trying.
The syntax cannot be customized from within itself: operator priority is predetermined, even for custom operators.
It is general and homoiconic. All syntactic elements behave the same in all contexts, they have no associated semantics, and they reduce to extremely regular structures.
It does support macros. In fact, you can use Racket's macro system without any changes to their underlying logic. See here for example.

Precedence rules

precedence

Rules

+ Rule       + O-expression              + S-expression
| Operator   | x <operator> y            | (<operator> x y)
|            | x <op> y <op> z           | (<op> x y z)
|            | x <op1> y <op2> z         | (<op1>_<op2> x y z) (op1 != op2)
| Apply      | x y                       | (apply x y)
|            | x y z                     | (apply (apply x y) z)
| List       | []                        | (list)
|            | [x, ...]                  | (list x ...)
| Apply+List | x[y, ...]                 | (x y ...)
| Group      | {x}                       | x
|            | {x, y, ...}               | (begin x y ...)
| Arrow      | x => y                    | (x y) (for all x)
| Contro     | @K : x                    | (K x)
|            | @K x : y                  | (K x y)
|            | @K x, y : {a, b, c}       | (K (begin x y) a b c)
| Sexp       | (...)                     | (...)

Aliases

+ Usual syntax         + Equivalent operator
| @define spec: body   | spec = body
| @lambda args: body   | args -> body
| @set! var: value     | var := value
| @quote: expr         | ..expr
| @quasiquote: expr    | .expr
| @unquote: expr       | ^expr
| expt[x, y]           | x ** y
| cons[x, y]           | x :: y
| string-append[x, y]  | x ++ y
| not[x == y]          | x /= y
| or[a, b, c]          | a || b || c
| and[a, b, c]         | a && b && c
| not[x]               | ! x

breuleux / liso