{"id":3312,"date":"2024-01-28T08:41:22","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T03:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/?p=3312"},"modified":"2024-03-09T08:41:35","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T03:11:35","slug":"the-hy-programming-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/28\/the-hy-programming-language\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hy Programming Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an earlier article<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0I had explained how to execute Python<\/strong><\/em> code from within Common Lisp<\/strong><\/em> using \u201cCLPython\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/a> package.<\/p>\n

In contrast to that approach, \u201cHy\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0is a Lisp<\/strong><\/em>-style language (not compatible with Common Lisp<\/strong><\/em>) that is embedded in Python<\/strong><\/em> and hence provides seamless interoperability with Python<\/strong><\/em> code.<\/p>\n

Installation is straightforward (it is usually a good idea to create a new Conda<\/strong><\/em> environment prior to installation).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

pip install \u2014user hy<\/strong><\/p>\n

After installation, make sure to set the PATH<\/strong><\/em> environment variable correctly.<\/p>\n

The easiest way to get started is through the REPL<\/strong><\/em>. Just type \u201chy\u201d<\/strong><\/em> on the command line. We can then start entering Hy<\/strong><\/em> expressions, which will be evaluated immediately. See the following image:<\/p>\n

\"Hy<\/a>
Hy REPL<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let us try something more interesting. How about using the \u201cspaCy\u201d NLP<\/strong><\/em> library? Here is the code (VSCode<\/strong><\/em>):<\/p>\n

\"spaCy<\/a>
spaCy Example<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Line 10<\/strong><\/em>, I define a simple macro<\/strong><\/em> that converts \u201csetv\u201d<\/strong><\/em> to \u201csetf\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (as in Common Lisp<\/strong><\/em>). In Line 15<\/strong><\/em>, I define a \u201cClass TextProcessor\u201d<\/strong><\/em> to make use of \u201cspaCy\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. The two methods in it allow us to print Part-of-Speech<\/strong><\/em> info for the words in a given piece of text, and to print noun phrases<\/strong> <\/em>in the text.<\/p>\n

The \u201cmain\u201d<\/strong><\/em> function creates a TextProcessor<\/strong><\/em> object, passing the language model to use, and then invokes the two methods with some sample text.<\/p>\n

When we run the code in the Terminal<\/strong><\/em> from within the VSCode IDE<\/strong><\/em>, here is the output:<\/p>\n

\"Program<\/a>
Program Output<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As this example shows, using Python<\/strong><\/em> libraries in Hy<\/strong><\/em> is quite simple and works as expected. The current version of Hy<\/strong><\/em> already supports the necessary constructs and functionality to write non-trivial code. We have the familiar \u201cif\u201d<\/strong><\/em>, \u201ccond\u201d<\/strong><\/em> conditionals, \u201cwhile\u201d<\/strong><\/em>, \u201cfor\u201d<\/strong><\/em>, \u201clfor\u201d<\/strong><\/em> loop constructs, and \u201cdo\u201d<\/strong><\/em> as the equivalent of \u201cprogn\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. At a higher level, we have \u201cclass\u201d<\/strong><\/em>, \u201cfunction\u201d<\/strong><\/em> and \u201cmacro\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. There is also the \u201cHyrule\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/a> utility library (this should be installed separately), which brings in a lot of extra functionality (Collections<\/strong><\/em>, Sequences<\/strong><\/em>, special Macros<\/strong><\/em>, etc.) to the Hy<\/strong><\/em> environment.<\/p>\n

If you have a Lisp<\/strong><\/em> (any dialect) background and are familiar with Python<\/strong><\/em>, Hy<\/strong><\/em> will definitely appeal to you. The language is still evolving, so we can expect many more interesting features in the upcoming releases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One major advantage that I see is that since Hy<\/strong><\/em> converts the Lisp<\/strong><\/em> code directly into Python AST<\/strong><\/em> instead of \u201cinterpreting\u201d<\/strong> <\/em>at runtime, there is no loss of efficiency. Because of this we get the thrill of Lisp<\/strong><\/em> programming within the amazing ecosystem of Python<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n

If you would like to learn more about the Hy<\/strong><\/em> language, you can go through the official documentation<\/strong><\/a><\/em> . There is also a nice introductory book<\/strong><\/em><\/a> written by Mark Watson<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

This article is based on Hy 0.28.0<\/strong><\/em> version.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I definitely hope to spend more time with Hy <\/strong><\/em>and write more about it in future articles. Have a nice Weekend!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an earlier article\u00a0I had explained how to execute Python code from within Common Lisp using \u201cCLPython\u201d package. In contrast to that approach, \u201cHy\u201d\u00a0is a Lisp-style language (not compatible with Common Lisp) that is embedded in Python and hence provides seamless interoperability with Python code. Installation is straightforward (it is usually a good idea to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[383,18,103],"tags":[110,379,208],"class_list":["post-3312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hy-language","category-lisp","category-python","tag-common-lisp","tag-hy","tag-python"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9OLnF-Rq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3199,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/04\/simulating-python-zip-in-lisp\/","url_meta":{"origin":3312,"position":0},"title":"Simulating Python Zip in Lisp","author":"admin","date":"September 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The zip() function in Python is a convenient mechanism for iterating over multiple \u201citerables\u201d in parallel. Looping over lists is a common scenario. Here is the output generated by the above code: Common Lisp does not have such a feature built into the language or as part of the standard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LISP"","block_context":{"text":"LISP","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/lisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Python Zip() Feature","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/python-code-300x99.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":558,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/07\/clpython-python-in-common-lisp\/","url_meta":{"origin":3312,"position":1},"title":"CLPython – Python in Common Lisp","author":"admin","date":"July 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My work in the area of NLP requires\u00a0me to work with several frameworks across multiple languages such as Java, Python and Lisp. Sometime ago I got a chance to experiment with CLPython, an open-source implementation of Python in Common Lisp. Although CLPython is not under active development now, I found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LISP"","block_context":{"text":"LISP","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/lisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3350,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/09\/the-hy-programming-language-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3312,"position":2},"title":"The Hy Programming Language – Part 2","author":"admin","date":"March 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote about \u201cHy\u201d language in an earlier article. Since then I have been exploring the language some more, trying to get a better understanding of its features.\u00a0 The following example uses inheritance to model different types of \u201cSpace\u201d objects such as Asteroid, SpaceShip and Planet. It is taken from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hy Language"","block_context":{"text":"Hy Language","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/hy-language\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Inheritance Example","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Inheritance-Example-201x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Inheritance-Example-201x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Inheritance-Example-201x300.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":567,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/22\/clpython-python-in-common-lisp-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3312,"position":3},"title":"CLPython: Python in Common Lisp – Part 2","author":"admin","date":"July 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We looked at the basic features of CLPython\u00a0in our last blog. In today's post let us look at the support for Python classes. PYTEST 130 > (defun pyclass () \u00a0 (run\u00a0 \"class Employee: \u00a0\u00a0 def __init__(self, name, dept): \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 self.name = name \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 self.dept = dept \u00a0\u00a0 def\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LISP"","block_context":{"text":"LISP","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/lisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2927,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/20\/why-learn-lisp\/","url_meta":{"origin":3312,"position":4},"title":"Why Learn Lisp?","author":"admin","date":"October 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In the last article, I had shared my views on why programmers should learn Prolog, preferably as the first language. What language should one learn next? I strongly pitch for Lisp, to be precise, \u201cCommon Lisp\u201d. Lisp happens to be the second oldest (1958) programming language, only after Fortran (1957)!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LISP"","block_context":{"text":"LISP","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/lisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2200,"url":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/08\/book-review-the-common-lisp-condition-system-beyond-exception-handling-with-control-flow-mechanisms\/","url_meta":{"origin":3312,"position":5},"title":"Book Review – The Common Lisp Condition System: Beyond Exception Handling with Control Flow Mechanisms.","author":"admin","date":"November 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Title: The Common Lisp Condition System: Beyond Exception Handling with Control Flow Mechanisms Author: Micha\u0142 \"phoe\" Herda Publisher: Apress Year: 2020 Unlike with other languages, it is rare to find new books being published on Lisp. The last book on Lisp, which I purchased was \u201cCommon Lisp Recipes\u201d\u00a0\u00a0by Edmund Weitz\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rangakrish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cover-page-209x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rangakrish.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}