# nakkaya/ferret

Ferret is a free software lisp implementation for real time embedded control systems.

Repository: https://github.com/nakkaya/ferret
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/nakkaya-ferret
Homepage: https://ferret-lang.org
Language: Makefile
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: clojure, lisp, compiler, bare-metal, microcontroller, embedded-systems, arduino, teensy, atmega, arm
Last push: 2022-08-31T15:00:31+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3779, "days_push": 1463, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1125, forks 46 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:40.960075+00:00)

## What it is
Ferret is a Lisp (Clojure-inspired) implementation that compiles down to self-contained C++11 code for real-time embedded control systems. Generated code runs on any platform with a C++11 compiler, from microcontrollers with 2KB of RAM to desktop operating systems.

## Use cases
- write embedded firmware in a lisp dialect
- compile clojure-like code to c++11 for microcontrollers
- run lisp on arduino or teensy boards
- prototype real-time control systems in lisp
- target atmega and arm chips with high-level code
- generate portable c++ from lisp source

## When to choose
- you want lisp/clojure syntax for embedded or bare-metal targets
- you need real-time behavior on resource-constrained microcontrollers
- you want portable C++11 output rather than a VM interpreter

## When to avoid
- you need a full modern Clojure runtime or JVM ecosystem
- you want an actively developed project with frequent releases
- your target lacks a C++11 compliant compiler

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: compiler, programming-language, interpreter, embedded
- domain: programming-languages, compilers, embedded-systems, hardware
- platform: cross-platform, embedded, windows, cpp, jvm
- tags: lisp, clojure, real-time, microcontroller, arduino, teensy, bare-metal, c++11-codegen, compiler, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- nakkaya/ferret (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:40.960075+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T08:33:34.548682+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nakkaya/ferret (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:40.960075+00:00, sha 889a17fa1c2b)
  - homepage: https://ferret-lang.org (fetched 2026-08-29T12:43:56.259047+00:00, sha e28f0bd49f3d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.