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Lisp
1
Print a literal string on standard output
(princ "Hello, world!")
Alternative implementation:
(print "Hello World")
Alternative implementation:
(format T "Hello World")
2
Loop to execute some code a constant number of times
(loop repeat 10 do (write-line "Hello"))
3
Like a function which doesn't return any value, thus has only side effects (e.g. Print to standard output)
(defun show (message)
  (format t "Hello: ~a" message)
  (values))
4
Create a function which returns the square of an integer
(defun square (x)
  (* x x))
5
Declare a container type for two floating-point numbers x and y
(defstruct point
  (x 0.0d0 :type double-float)
  (y 0.0d0 :type double-float))
6
Do something with each item x of the list (or array) items, regardless indexes.
(map nil #'something items)
7
Print each index i with its value x from an array-like collection items
(loop for i from 0 and x across items
      do (format t "~a = ~a~%" i x))
8
Create a new map object x, and provide some (key, value) pairs as initial content.
(let ((table (make-hash-table)))
  (setf (gethash 'one table) 1)
  (setf	(gethash 'two table) 2))
9
The structure must be recursive because left child and right child are binary trees too. A node has access to children nodes, but not to its parent.
(defclass node ()
  ((value 
      :initarg :value :initform nil 
      :accessor node-value)
   (left-child 
      :initarg :left-child :initform nil 
      :accessor node-left-child)
   (right-child 
      :initarg :right-child :initform nil 
      :accessor node-right-child)))
10
Generate a random permutation of the elements of list x
(let ((end (length x)))
 (loop for i from 0 below end
       do (rotatef (aref x i)
                   (aref x (+ i (random (- end i)))))))
11
The list x must be non-empty.
(nth (random (length x)) x)
12
Check if the list contains the value x.
list is an iterable finite container.
(member x list)
Alternative implementation:
(find x list :test #'equal)
13
Access each key k with its value x from an associative array mymap, and print them.
(loop for k being each hash-key of mymap
      for x being each hash-value of mymap                                                                            
      do (format t "~A ~A~%" k x)))
14
Pick a random number greater than or equals to a, strictly inferior to b. Precondition : a < b.
(+ a (random (float (- b a))))
15
Pick a random integer greater than or equals to a, inferior or equals to b. Precondition : a < b.
(defun r (a  b)
(+ a (random (+ 1 (- b a )))))
19
Reverse the order of the elements of the list x.
This may reverse "in-place" and destroy the original ordering.
(reverse x)
20
Implement a function search which looks for item x in a 2D matrix m.
Return indices i, j of the matching cell.
Think of the most idiomatic way in the language to return the two values at the same time.
(defun mysearch (x m)
  (loop for i below (array-dimension m 0)
        do (loop for j below (array-dimension m 1)
                 when (eql x (aref m i j))
                 do (return-from my-search
                                 (values i j)))))
21
Swap the values of the variables a and b
(rotatef a b)
22
Extract the integer value i from its string representation s (in radix 10)
(setf i (parse-integer s))
24
Declare a new string s and initialize it with the literal value "ネコ" (which means "cat" in japanese)
(defvar *s* "ネコ")
26
Declare and initialize a matrix x having m rows and n columns, containing real numbers.
(make-array (list m n)
   :element-type 'double-float
   :initial-element 1.0d0)
27
Declare and initialize a 3D array x, having dimensions boundaries m, n, p, and containing real numbers.
(defparameter *x*
  (make-array (list m n p)
              :element-type 'double-float
              :initial-element 0.0d0))
28
Sort the elements of the list (or array-like collection) items in ascending order of x.p, where p is a field of the type Item of the objects in items.
(sort #'< items :key #'p)
31
Create the recursive function f which returns the factorial of the non-negative integer i, calculated from f(i-1)
(defun f (i)
  (if (< i 2)
    1
    (* i (f (- i 1)))))
32
Create function exp which calculates (fast) the value x power n.
x and n are non-negative integers.
(loop
  for (power rem) = (list p 0) then (multiple-value-list (floor power 2))
  for multiple = 1 then (if (zerop rem) multiple (* multiple base))
  for base = x then (* base base)
  when (= power 0) return 1
  when (= power 1) return (* multiple base)))
36
Implement a function compose which returns composition function g ∘ f for any functions f and g having exactly 1 parameter.
(defun compose (f g)
  (lambda (x) (g (f x))))
37
Transform a function that takes multiple arguments into a function for which some of the arguments are preset.
(defun curry (fn &rest args)
  (lambda (&rest remaining-args)
    (apply fn (append args remaining-args))))

(defun add (a b)
  (+ a b))

(funcall (curry add 2) 1) 
  
38
Find substring t consisting in characters i (included) to j (excluded) of string s.
Character indices start at 0 unless specified otherwise.
Make sure that multibyte characters are properly handled.
(setf u (subseq s i j))
39
Set the boolean ok to true if the string word is contained in string s as a substring, or to false otherwise.
(setf ok (search word s))
41
Create string t containing the same characters as string s, in reverse order.
Original string s must remain unaltered. Each character must be handled correctly regardless its number of bytes in memory.
(reverse s)
43
Look for a negative value v in 2D integer matrix m. Print it and stop searching.
(loop named outer
      for i below (array-dimension m 0)
      do (loop for j below (array-dimension m 1)
               for v = (aref m i j)
               when (minusp v)
               do (progn
                    (print v)
                    (return-from outer))))
44
Insert the element x at position i in the list s. Further elements must be shifted to the right.
(defun ins (lst x i)
 (if (zerop i) (cons x lst)
     (cons (car lst) (ins (cdr lst) x (- i 1)))))

(setf s (ins s x i))
45
Sleep for 5 seconds in current thread, before proceeding with the next instructions.
(sleep 5)
46
Create the string t consisting of the 5 first characters of the string s.
Make sure that multibyte characters are properly handled.
(setf *t* (subseq s 0 5))
47
Create string t consisting in the 5 last characters of string s.
Make sure that multibyte characters are properly handled.
(setf *t* (subseq s (- (length s) 5)))
48
Assign to variable s a string literal consisting in several lines of text, including newlines.
(setf s "a
b
c
d")
49
Build list chunks consisting in substrings of the string s, separated by one or more space characters.
 
(defun words (s)
  (if (equalp s "") nil 
      (let ((p (position #\Space s )))
    (cond ((null p) (list s))
          ((zerop p ) (words (subseq s 1)))
          (T (cons (subseq s 0 p) (words (subseq s (+ 1 p ))))))))) 

(setf chunks (words s))
50
Write a loop that has no end clause.
(loop)
Alternative implementation:
(defun infinite-loop (x)
  (apply x (infinite-loop x)))
51
Determine whether the map m contains an entry for the key k
(nth-value 1 (gethash k m))
53
Concatenate elements of string list x joined by the separator ", " to create a single string y.
(defvar y (format nil "~{~A~^, ~}" x))
Alternative implementation:
(setf y (format nil "~{~a~^,~}" x))
Alternative implementation:
(setf y (reduce (lambda (a b)
                   (concatenate 'string a ", " b))
                 x))
54
Calculate the sum s of the integer list or array x.
(reduce #'+ x)
55
Create the string representation s (in radix 10) of the integer value i.
(setf s (princ-to-string i))
56
Fork-join : launch the concurrent execution of procedure f with parameter i from 1 to 1000.
Tasks are independent and f(i) doesn't return any value.
Tasks need not run all at the same time, so you may use a pool.
Wait for the completion of the 1000 tasks and then print "Finished".
(lambda (fn)
  (pdotimes (i 1000)
    (funcall fn i)))
57
Create the list y containing the items from the list x that satisfy the predicate p. Respect the original ordering. Don't modify x in-place.
(setf y (remove-if-not p x))
58
Create the string lines from the content of the file with filename f.
(with-open-file (stream f)
  (uiop:slurp-stream-string stream))
Alternative implementation:
(defvar *lines*
   (with-open-file (stream f)
      (let ((contents (make-string (file-length stream))))
            (read-sequence contents stream)
      :return contents)))
59
Print the message "x is negative" to standard error (stderr), with integer x value substitution (e.g. "-2 is negative").
(format *error-output*
        "~a is negative"
        x)
64
Assign to x the value 3^247
(setf x (expt 3 247))
68
Create an object x to store n bits (n being potentially large).
(let ((x (make-array n :element-type 'bit))))
69
Use seed s to initialize a random generator.

If s is constant, the generator output will be the same each time the program runs. If s is based on the current value of the system clock, the generator output will be different each time.
call random_seed (put=s)
70
Get the current datetime and provide it as a seed to a random generator. The generator sequence will be different at each run.
(setf *random-state* (make-random-state t))
71
Basic implementation of the Echo program: Print all arguments except the program name, separated by space, followed by newline.
The idiom demonstrates how to skip the first argument if necessary, concatenate arguments as strings, append newline and print it to stdout.
(format t "~{~A~^ ~}~%" *args*)
75
Compute the least common multiple x of big integers a and b. Use an integer type able to handle huge numbers.
(setf x (lcm a b))
77
Declare a complex x and initialize it with value (3i - 2). Then multiply it by i.
(let ((x #c(-2 3)))
  (* x #c(0 1)))
78
Execute a block once, then execute it again as long as boolean condition c is true.
(loop do (something)
      while c)
79
Declare the floating point number y and initialize it with the value of the integer x .
(defparameter *y* (float x))
80
Declare integer y and initialize it with the value of floating point number x . Ignore non-integer digits of x .
Make sure to truncate towards zero: a negative x must yield the closest greater integer (not lesser).
(truncate x)
81
Declare the integer y and initialize it with the rounded value of the floating point number x .
Ties (when the fractional part of x is exactly .5) must be rounded up (to positive infinity).
(defun rnd (y) (floor (+ y 0.5)))
82
Find how many times string s contains substring t.
Specify if overlapping occurrences are counted.
;;; s=str, t=pattern
(defun cnt_substr (str pattern)
  (loop for i from 0 to (- (length str) (length pattern) ) 
    sum (if (equal pattern (subseq str i (+ i (length pattern )))) 1  0 )))
84
Count number c of 1s in the integer i in base 2.

E.g. i=6 → c=2
(setf c (logcount i))
87
Exit immediately.
If some extra cleanup work is executed by the program runtime (not by the OS itself), describe it.
(exit)
92
Write the contents of the object x into the file data.json.
(with-open-file (out "data.json" :direction :output)
  (yason:encode-plist x out))
93
Implement the procedure control which receives one parameter f, and runs f.
(defun control (f)
   (funcall f))
94
Print the name of the type of x. Explain if it is a static type or dynamic type.

This may not make sense in all languages.
(describe x)
95
Assign to variable x the length (number of bytes) of the local file at path.
(defvar x (osicat-posix:stat-size (osicat-posix:stat #P"path")))
96
Set the boolean b to true if string s starts with prefix prefix, false otherwise.
(defun check-prefix (s prefix)
 (cond ((> (length prefix) (length s)) Nil)
       ( T ( equal prefix (subseq s 0 (length prefix ))))))

(setf b (check-prefix s prefix))
97
Set boolean b to true if string s ends with string suffix, false otherwise.

(defun check-suffix (str suf )
  (if (> (length suf) (length str )) nil (equalp (subseq str (- (length str) (length suf)) (length str )) suf )))

(setf b (check-suffix s suffix))
100
Sort elements of array-like collection items, using a comparator c.
(sort items #'c)
101
Make an HTTP request with method GET to the URL u, then store the body of the response in the string s.
(defvar *s* (string (dex:get u)))
102
Make an HTTP request with method GET to the URL u, then store the body of the response in the file result.txt. Try to save the data as it arrives if possible, without having all its content in memory at once.
(serapeum:write-stream-into-file
   (dex:get u :want-stream t)
              #P"result.txt"
              :direction :output
              :if-exists :supersede
              :if-does-not-exist :create)
103
Read from the file data.xml and write its contents into the object x.
Assume the XML data is suitable for the type of x.
(let ((x (plump:parse #p"data.xml")))
  ...)
110
Set the boolean blank to true if the string s is empty, or null, or contains only whitespace ; false otherwise.
(setf blank (not (find #\space s :test-not #'eql)))
111
From current process, run program x with command-line parameters "a", "b".
(sb-ext:run-program '("a" "b") "/path/to/x")
117
Set n to the number of elements of the list x.
(setf n (length x))
118
Create the set y from the list x.
x may contain duplicates. y is unordered and has no repeated values.
(setf y (remove-duplicates x))
119
Remove duplicates from the list x.
Explain if the original order is preserved.
(remove-duplicates x)
120
Read an integer value from the standard input into the variable n
(setf n (read-from-string (remove-if-not #'digit-char-p (read-line))))
123
Verify that predicate isConsistent returns true, otherwise report assertion violation.
Explain if the assertion is executed even in production environment or not.
(assert (isConsistent))
125
measure the duration t, in nanoseconds, of a call to the function foo. Print this duration.
(time (foo))
126
Write a function foo that returns a string and a boolean value.
(defun foo () (format t "bar") t)
131
Execute f1 if condition c1 is true, or else f2 if condition c2 is true, or else f3 if condition c3 is true.
Don't evaluate a condition when a previous condition was true.
(cond (c1 (f1))
      (c2 (f2))
      (c3 (f3)))
132
Run the procedure f, and return the duration of the execution of f.
(time (f))
134
Declare and initialize a new list items, containing 3 elements a, b, c.
(defparameter *items* (list a b c))
136
Remove all occurrences of the value x from list items.
This will alter the original list or return a new list, depending on which is more idiomatic.
(remove-if (lambda (val) (= val x)) items)
137
Set the boolean b to true if the string s contains only characters in the range '0'..'9', false otherwise.
(setf b (every #'digit-char-p s))
141
Iterate in sequence over the elements of the list items1 then items2. For each iteration print the element.
(map nil #'print (append items1 items))
147
Create string t from string s, keeping only ASCII characters
(remove-if-not (lambda (i) (<= 0 i 127))
               s
               :key #'char-code)
148
Read a list of integer numbers from the standard input, until EOF.
(read)
149
As an exception, this content is not under license CC BY-SA 3.0 like the rest of this website.
 
152
Create string s containing only the character c.
(defparameter *s* (string c))
153
Create the string t as the concatenation of the string s and the integer i.
(format nil "~a~d" s i)
157
Initialize a constant planet with string value "Earth".
(defparameter +planet+ "Earth")
160
Execute f32() if platform is 32-bit, or f64() if platform is 64-bit.
This can be either a compile-time condition (depending on target) or a runtime detection.
(defun detect-architecture ()
  (let ((arch (machine-type)))
    (cond ((equalp arch "X86-64") (f64))
          ((equalp arch "X86") (f32))
          (t "unknown"))))
161
Multiply all the elements of the list elements by a constant c
(mapcar (lambda (n) (* n c))
        elements)
165
Assign to the variable x the last element of the list items.
(setf x (car (last items)))
166
Create the list ab containing all the elements of the list a, followed by all the elements of the list b.
(setf ab (append a b))
169
Assign to the integer n the number of characters of the string s.
Make sure that multibyte characters are properly handled.
n can be different from the number of bytes of s.
(setf n (length s))
Alternative implementation:
(length s)
174
Make a HTTP request with method POST to the URL u
(drakma:http-request u :method :post)
Alternative implementation:
(dex:post u)
175
From array a of n bytes, build the equivalent hex string s of 2n digits.
Each byte (256 possible values) is encoded as two hexadecimal characters (16 possible values per digit).
(lambda (bytes &aux (size (* 2 (length bytes))))
  (let ((hex (make-array size :element-type 'character :fill-pointer 0)))
    (prog1 hex
      (with-output-to-string (o hex)
        (map () (lambda (byte) (format o "~2,'0x" byte)) bytes)))))
178
Set boolean b to true if if the point with coordinates (x,y) is inside the rectangle with coordinates (x1,y1,x2,y2) , or to false otherwise.
Describe if the edges are considered to be inside the rectangle.
(setf b (and (< x1 x x2)
             (< y1 y y2)))
184
Assign to variable t a string representing the day, month and year of the day after the current date.
(setf _t (chronicity:parse "tomorrow"))
187
Disjoint Sets hold elements that are partitioned into a number of disjoint (non-overlapping) sets.
(defstruct disjoint-set
  elements)

(defun make-disjoint-set (elements) 
  (make-disjoint-set :elements elements))

(defun partition (disjoint-set)
  (loop for element in (disjoint-set-elements disjoint-set) 
       collect 
        (let ((found (find element (mapcar #'first (rest disjoint-set)) 
                    :test #'equal)))
          (if found
              (acons element element found :test #'equal)
              (acons element element nil :test #'equal)))))
189
Produce a new list y containing the result of the function T applied to all elements e of the list x that match the predicate P.
(defvar y (mapcar #'T (remove-if-not p x)))
219
Create the string t from the value of string s with each sequence of spaces replaced by a single space.

Explain if only the space characters will be replaced, or the other whitespaces as well: tabs, newlines.
(defun words (str)
  (if (equalp str "") nil 
      (let ((p (position #\Space str )))
    (cond ((null p) (list str))
          ((zerop p ) (words (subseq str 1)))
          (T (cons (subseq str 0 p) (words (subseq str (+ 1 p ))))))))) 

(setf s " aa  bbb  cc1 ")

 (let ((ws (words s )))
   (setf t (car ws))
   (dolist (w (cdr ws ))
     (setf t (concatenate 'string t " " w ))))
 (print t)
 
221
Create string t from string s, keeping only digit characters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
(let ((*t* (remove-if-not #'digit-char-p *s*)))
	(format t "~A~%" *t*))
223
Loop through list items checking a condition. Do something else if no matches are found.

A typical use case is looping through a series of containers looking for one that matches a condition. If found, an item is inserted; otherwise, a new container is created.

These are mostly used as an inner nested loop, and in a location where refactoring inner logic into a separate function reduces clarity.
(loop for item in items
      when (check-match item) return (do-something item)
      finally (return (do-something-else))
238
Write in a new byte array c the xor result of byte arrays a and b.

a and b have the same size.
(map '(vector (unsigned-byte 8)) #'logxor a b)
243
Print the contents of the list or array a on the standard output.
(print a )
Alternative implementation:
(defun plist (lst)
  (if (< (length lst) 20 )  
      (loop for elem in lst do (p elem))
      (let ((l (length lst )))
         (p (nth 0 lst )(nth 1 lst )(nth 2 lst )(nth 3 lst )
         "... (" l " in total)... "
         (nth (- l 4) lst )(nth (- l 3 ) lst )(nth (- l 2 ) lst )(nth (- l 1 ) lst ) )
      )))

(defun p (x &rest others)
  (cond ((listp x)( plist x   ))
        ((stringp x)(format t x  ))
        (T (write x)))
  (format t " ") 
  (if others (p others))
256
Print the numbers 5, 4, ..., 0 (included), one line per number.
(dotimes (i 6) (print (- 5 i)))
261
Assign to the string x the value of fields (hours, minutes, seconds) of the date d, in format HH:MM:SS.
(defvar *x* (format NIL "~2,'0D:~2,'0D:~2,'0D" 12 34 56))
266
Assign to the string s the value of the string v repeated n times, and write it out.

E.g. v="abc", n=5 ⇒ s="abcabcabcabcabc"
(do ((i 0 (+ i 1 )))( (= i n) s)
  (setf s (concatenate 'string s v)))
272
Fizz buzz is a children's counting game, and a trivial programming task used to affirm that a programmer knows the basics of a language: loops, conditions and I/O.

The typical fizz buzz game is to count from 1 to 100, saying each number in turn. When the number is divisible by 3, instead say "Fizz". When the number is divisible by 5, instead say "Buzz". When the number is divisible by both 3 and 5, say "FizzBuzz"
(loop for i from 1 to 100
   do (print
       (cond ((zerop (mod i 3))
              (if (zerop (mod i 5)) "FizzBuzz" "Fizz"))
             ((zerop (mod i 5)) "Buzz")
             (t (format nil "~d" i)))))
273
Set the boolean b to true if the directory at filepath p is empty (i.e. doesn't contain any other files and directories)
(let ((b (directory p)))
  (if (null b) t nil))
277
Remove the element e from the set x.

Explains what happens if e was already absent from x.
(defun rmv (elem lst) 
 (if (null lst) nil
   (if (equal elem (car lst)) 
     (cdr lst)
     (cons (car lst) (rmv elem (cdr lst))))) )

(setf x (rmv e x ))
288
Set the boolean b to true if the set x contains the element e, false otherwise.
(setf b (not (null (member e x))))
299
Write a line of comments.

This line will not be compiled or executed.
;; comment
301
Compute the Fibonacci sequence of n numbers using recursion.

Note that naive recursion is extremely inefficient for this task.
(defun fibonacci (n &optional (a 0) (b 1) (acc ()))
  (if (zerop n)
      (nreverse acc)
      (fibonacci (1- n) b (+ a b) (cons a acc))))