Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Awl, a toy Lisp language written in C and transpiled to JavaScript

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Awl, a toy Lisp language written in C and transpiled to JavaScript launched in 2014; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1IW
I wrote a technical history book on Lisp▲252
The book page links to a blog post that explains how I got about it (and has a link to sample content), but the TL&DR is that I could not find a lot of books that were on "our" history _and_ were larded with technical details. So I set about writing one, and some five years later I'm happy to share the result. I think it's one of the few "computer history" books that has tons of code, but correct me if I'm wrong (I wrote this both to tell a story and to learn :-)). My favorite languages are Smalltalk and Lisp, but as an Emacs user, I've been using the latter for much longer and for my…
Feb 2026 · berksoft.ca · its alternatives →
2
Maybe Haskell▲60
See what it’s like to program in a language without null.
2015 · books.thoughtbot.com · its alternatives →
3
Bad Language: A lisp-looking language with interpreter and JS compiler▲6
A lisp-looking language with interpreter and compiler to JS - mcapodici/badlanguage
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
4AV
A very simple Lisp interpreter in 250 lines of literate Python▲5
2017 · khamidou.com · its alternatives →
5IA
Implementing a Lispy Language in Haskell: Part 1▲6
Software Engineer in New York specializing in Apple platforms
2015 · harlanhaskins.com · its alternatives →
6
a minimal Lisp with closures, macros and gc in 1400 lines of C▲11
KISS My Lisp - an implementation in pure C99 of a minimal Lisp language. - kototama/kml
2012 · github.com · its alternatives →
7
Snigl – Forth with a Lisp in C▲6
2018 · gitlab.com · its alternatives →
8
Passambler: A toy language I made in Java over the course of 4 months▲5
2015 · github.com · its alternatives →
9
Nirvana, a WIP programming language▲8
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
10
Runiq, a little Lisp-inspired language that runs on JavaScript▲24
:aquarius: A Lisp-esque, JS-interpreted scripting language - tsortwehttam/runiq
2015 · github.com · its alternatives →
11PA
Philip2 – an Elm-to-OCaml compiler▲8
2019 · medium.com · its alternatives →
12
The Julia Language▲10
A high-level, high-performance dynamic programming language
2017 · julialang.org · its alternatives →
13
Snigl – a Forth with a Lisp in C▲6
2018 · gitlab.com · its alternatives →
14
A small Clojure-like Lisp on top of R▲5
Lisp-like-R: A clojure inspired lisp that compiles to R in R - dirkschumacher/llr
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
15CA
Clause: an expressive JavaScript contract system, inspired by clojure.spec▲8
2017 · clause.js.org · its alternatives →
16FA
Ferret – A Hard Real-Time Clojure for Lisp Machines▲7
2016 · nakkaya.com · its alternatives →
17TE
The Earl Grey language – pattern matching, macros, compiles to JS▲5
2014 · breuleux.github.io · its alternatives →
18QN
Quicklang.net – A Simple Programming Language That Runs in the Browser▲7
2020 · quicklang.net · its alternatives →
19WA
Whilelse – a programming platform that represents code as a web▲7
2016 · whilelse.com · its alternatives →
20
Emacs Lisp▲4
An Introduction
2017 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
21AN
A .Net Lisp interpreter with First Class Macros, Continuations▲7
2012 · patient0.github.com · its alternatives →
22CA
Crsh – A JavaScript based command line shell▲9
2020 · crwi.uk · its alternatives →
23
A Tiny Compiler for a Tiny Functional Language▲8
Compiler Backend for LSTS (High-Level Typed Macro Assembler) - andrew4328/lambda-mountain
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
24
Common Lisp tutorials with OpenGL graphics▲7
2023 · youtube.com · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →