<s>
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
(	O
or	O
StarLisp	B-Language
)	O
is	O
a	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
a	O
dialect	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
Lisp	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
conceived	O
of	O
in	O
1985	O
by	O
two	O
employees	O
of	O
the	O
Thinking	O
Machines	O
Corporation	O
,	O
Cliff	O
Lasser	O
and	O
Steve	O
Omohundro	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
provide	O
an	O
efficient	O
yet	O
high-level	O
language	O
for	O
programming	O
the	O
nascent	O
Connection	B-Device
Machine	I-Device
(	O
CM	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
the	B-Device
Connection	I-Device
Machine	I-Device
was	O
being	O
designed	O
and	O
built	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
language	O
being	O
actively	O
developed	O
for	O
it	O
was	O
an	O
assembly-level	O
language	O
named	O
PARIS	O
(	O
Parallel	B-Operating_System
Instruction	O
Set	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Waiting	O
for	O
the	O
completion	O
of	O
Connection	B-Device
Machine	I-Device
Lisp	B-Language
(	O
CM	O
Lisp	B-Language
)	O
,	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
very	B-Language
high-level	I-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
Lisp	B-Language
with	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
extensions	O
)	O
was	O
not	O
an	O
option	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CM	O
Lisp	B-Language
had	O
been	O
proposed	O
by	O
Danny	O
Hillis	O
,	O
and	O
development	O
was	O
expected	O
to	O
continue	O
for	O
several	O
more	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
interpreter	B-Application
was	O
initially	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
became	O
apparent	O
quickly	O
that	O
a	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
compiler	B-Language
,	O
translating	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
into	O
Lisp	B-Language
and	O
PARIS	O
,	O
would	O
be	O
needed	O
to	O
attain	O
the	O
gigaFLOPS	O
speed	O
that	O
was	O
attainable	O
in	O
theory	O
by	O
a	O
Connection	B-Device
Machine	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
compiler	B-Language
was	O
written	O
by	O
Jeff	O
Mincy	O
and	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
1986	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
Simulator	O
,	O
an	O
emulator	B-Application
meant	O
to	O
run	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
code	O
on	O
standard	O
,	O
non-parallel	O
machines	O
,	O
was	O
developed	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
by	O
J	O
.	O
P	O
.	O
Massar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
simulator	O
still	O
exists	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
American	O
National	O
Standards	O
Institute	O
(	O
ANSI	O
)	O
Common	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
(	O
CL	O
)	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
older	O
version	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
original	O
CL	O
,	O
exists	O
in	O
the	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
(	O
CMU	O
)	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
(	O
AI	B-Application
)	O
repository	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
versions	O
of	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
,	O
involving	O
significant	O
upgrades	O
to	O
its	O
functions	O
and	O
performance	O
,	O
were	O
worked	O
on	O
by	O
Cliff	O
Lasser	O
,	O
Jeff	O
Mincy	O
,	O
and	O
J	O
.	O
P	O
.	O
Massar	O
through	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
was	O
implemented	O
on	O
the	O
Thinking	O
Machines	O
CM5	O
circa	O
1990	O
–	O
1991	O
by	O
J	O
.	O
P	O
.	O
Massar	O
and	O
Mario	O
Bourgoin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
StarLisp	B-Language
was	O
written	O
on	O
Common	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
(	O
CL	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
had	O
the	O
full	O
power	O
of	O
CL	O
behind	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
use	O
a	O
Connection	B-Device
Machine	I-Device
,	O
one	O
needed	O
a	O
host	O
or	O
front-end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
use	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
,	O
that	O
front-end	O
had	O
to	O
run	O
CL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Symbolics	O
 '	O
machines	O
using	O
Genera	B-Application
and	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
workstations	O
running	O
Lucid	O
Inc.	O
'	O
s	O
Lucid	B-Language
Common	I-Language
Lisp	I-Language
were	O
both	O
used	O
to	O
operate	O
*	B-Language
Lisp	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
StarLisp	B-Language
operated	O
on	O
Parallel	B-Operating_System
Variables	O
(	O
PVARS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
represented	O
Connection	B-Device
Machine	I-Device
memory	O
,	O
and	O
were	O
essentially	O
vectors	B-Data_Structure
:	O
one	O
element	O
per	O
CM	O
processor	O
(	O
or	O
virtual	O
processor	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
StarLisp	B-Language
consisted	O
of	O
standard	O
operations	O
on	O
PVARS	O
,	O
like	O
vector	O
addition	O
and	O
multiplication	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
communication	O
primitives	O
that	O
essentially	O
reordered	O
the	O
elements	O
of	O
a	O
PVAR	O
using	O
the	O
CM	O
's	O
communication	O
hardware	O
to	O
optimally	O
route	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
