(rontolisp) docs

Build & Install

Prebuilt native-image binaries are published on the GitHub releases page. They start instantly and need no JVM installed. Pick the asset for your platform, make it executable, and put it on your PATH as rontolisp.

macOS (Apple Silicon):

wget https://github.com/making/rontolisp/releases/download/0.1.0-SNAPSHOT/rontolisp-darwin-arm64
chmod +x rontolisp-darwin-arm64
sudo mv rontolisp-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/rontolisp

Linux (x86-64):

wget https://github.com/making/rontolisp/releases/download/0.1.0-SNAPSHOT/rontolisp-linux-amd64
chmod +x rontolisp-linux-amd64
sudo mv rontolisp-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/rontolisp

Linux (ARM64):

wget https://github.com/making/rontolisp/releases/download/0.1.0-SNAPSHOT/rontolisp-linux-arm64
chmod +x rontolisp-linux-arm64
sudo mv rontolisp-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/rontolisp

Verify the install:

rontolisp --version

A prebuilt binary needs nothing else installed. To run .wasm output you also need a wasm-GC capable runtime such as wasmtime 14+ (optional).

The rest of the documentation uses the rontolisp command. If you build from source instead (below), substitute java -jar target/rontolisp-0.1.0-SNAPSHOT-exec.jar for rontolisp.

Download the executable JAR

The same releases page also publishes the self-contained executable JAR (rontolisp-0.1.0-SNAPSHOT-exec.jar). It needs a Java 25+ runtime but works on any platform, and it is the only artifact that can interpret the JVM-only java: interop package — the native binaries carry no reflection metadata, so interpreting java: forms fails there (both artifacts can still compile a java: program to a .class that runs under java).

wget https://github.com/making/rontolisp/releases/download/0.1.0-SNAPSHOT/rontolisp-0.1.0-SNAPSHOT-exec.jar
java -jar rontolisp-0.1.0-SNAPSHOT-exec.jar --version

Build from source

Requires Java 25+.

./mvnw clean package

This produces target/rontolisp-0.1.0-SNAPSHOT-exec.jar, an executable JAR with all dependencies included. Run it with java -jar target/rontolisp-0.1.0-SNAPSHOT-exec.jar.

Native Image (GraalVM)

Build a native executable yourself using GraalVM:

./mvnw -Pnative clean package

This produces target/rontolisp, a standalone native binary with instant startup.

Requirements:

  • GraalVM 25+ (with native-image tool)

Usage:

# REPL
rontolisp

# File interpretation
rontolisp program.lisp

# Compile to JVM bytecode
rontolisp hello.lisp -o Hello.class

# Compile to WASM
rontolisp hello.lisp -o hello.wasm