kanaka/mal resource
mal - Make a Lisp observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
44/100
- Activity 48
- Release rhythm 8
- Longevity 100
Flags: no_license
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 4545
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 315
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
10721 stars · 2702 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
Mal (Make a Lisp) is a Clojure-inspired Lisp interpreter implemented in 89 languages, structured as 11 incremental self-contained steps for learning how Lisps work. It serves primarily as an educational tool, with a step-by-step process guide culminating in a self-hosting implementation.
Use cases
- learn how to implement a Lisp interpreter
- understand interpreter concepts like macros and tail-call optimization step by step
- practice a programming language by porting mal to it
- study self-hosting interpreters
- follow a guided make-a-lisp tutorial with testable steps
When to choose
- you want a structured, hands-on guide to building a Lisp from scratch
- you want to learn a new language by implementing the same small interpreter in it
- you want a small Clojure-inspired Lisp to experiment with
When to avoid
- you need a production-ready Lisp for real applications
- you want a batteries-included Clojure-compatible runtime
- you need performance or a rich standard library
Facets
learning-resource · maturity active
interpreter programming-language developer-tools programming-languages education tutorials parsers cross-platform cli wasm lisp clojure-inspired learn-to-code self-hosting multi-language-implementations repl docker
1 source
- readme: https://github.com/kanaka/mal · fetched 2026-08-28 · b97915596b8c
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| kanaka/mal | main | 44 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem