{"slug": "sectorlisp", "name": "SectorLisp", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 3.914, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2026-02-17", "latest": "2026-09-07", "why": "My favorite take on that subject in recent years is", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "My favorite take on that subject in recent years is", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "justine.lol", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://justine.lol/sectorlisp2/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["SectorLisp", "SectorLISP"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 793476560, "item_id": 49592285, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592285", "by": "tempodox", "date": "2026-09-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Justine Tunney's SectorLISP.  Very cool.", "excerpt": "This seems to be in the same spirit as Justine Tunney's SectorLISP. Very cool. https://justine.lol/sectorlisp/", "context": "", "use_case": "Tiny Lisp bootsector interpreter", "switched_from": "", "story": "Making a Python interpreter in 1024 bytes"}, {"id": 789976000, "item_id": 49373500, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49373500", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-08-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love both Forth and Lisp but SectorLisp it's far better.", "excerpt": "I love both Forth and Lisp but SectorLisp it's far better. Also, for a small demo, check Eforth under Subleq/Muxleq: https://github.com/howerj/subleq edit subleq.fth/muxleq.fth and set these options to 1: 1 constant opt.multi ( Add in large \"pause\" primitive ) 1 constant opt.editor ( Add in Text Editor ) 1 constant opt.info ( Add info printing function ) 0 constant opt.generate-c ( Generate C code ) 1 constant opt.be", "context": "", "use_case": "tiny Lisp", "switched_from": "", "story": "Sectorforth is a 16-bit x86 Forth that fits in a 512-byte boot sector"}, {"id": 753504672, "item_id": 47094042, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47094042", "by": "lachlan_gray", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Another crazy one is SectorLISP, 223 lines of asm", "excerpt": "Another crazy one is SectorLISP, 223 lines of asm https://justine.lol/sectorlisp2/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Lil' Fun Langs"}, {"id": 752839632, "item_id": 47052477, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052477", "by": "Jach", "date": "2026-02-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My favorite take on that subject in recent years is", "excerpt": "This is a nice and unexpected release, thanks for writing it. Getting a RPG endorsement is great. I just finished reading his foreword and skimming the table of contents and bibliography from the preview. I'd have liked to see a sample of a middle chapter to really see how technical and deep it gets (e.g. Land of Lisp gives its chapter 8 as a sample which I think is very representative for that book). But I plan to g", "context": "", "use_case": "tiny Lisp interpreter", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I wrote a technical history book on Lisp"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["tiny lisp bootsector interpreter", "tiny lisp", "tiny lisp interpreter"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49591876", "title": "Making a Python interpreter in 1024 bytes", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49321934", "title": "Sectorforth is a 16-bit x86 Forth that fits in a 512-byte boot sector", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47091071", "title": "Lil' Fun Langs", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47048733", "title": "Show HN: I wrote a technical history book on Lisp", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 793541040, "item_id": 49596315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49596315", "by": "stevefan1999", "date": "2026-09-07", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm talking about things like SectorLisp https://justine.lol/sectorlisp/", "excerpt": "But to be honest, I wonder what is the smallest interpretable and practical Turing Complete VM? I would argue that implementing a brainfuck that we lower Python interpreter to, or even say like an interpreter untyped lambda calculus or SKI combinator would be very useful, especially for the hardware bootstrapping. I'm talking about things like SectorLisp https://justine.lol/sectorlisp/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Making a Python interpreter in 1024 bytes"}, {"id": 793476560, "item_id": 49592285, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592285", "by": "tempodox", "date": "2026-09-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Justine Tunney's SectorLISP.  Very cool.", "excerpt": "This seems to be in the same spirit as Justine Tunney's SectorLISP. Very cool. https://justine.lol/sectorlisp/", "context": "", "use_case": "Tiny Lisp bootsector interpreter", "switched_from": "", "story": "Making a Python interpreter in 1024 bytes"}, {"id": 789976000, "item_id": 49373500, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49373500", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-08-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love both Forth and Lisp but SectorLisp it's far better.", "excerpt": "I love both Forth and Lisp but SectorLisp it's far better. Also, for a small demo, check Eforth under Subleq/Muxleq: https://github.com/howerj/subleq edit subleq.fth/muxleq.fth and set these options to 1: 1 constant opt.multi ( Add in large \"pause\" primitive ) 1 constant opt.editor ( Add in Text Editor ) 1 constant opt.info ( Add info printing function ) 0 constant opt.generate-c ( Generate C code ) 1 constant opt.be", "context": "", "use_case": "tiny Lisp", "switched_from": "", "story": "Sectorforth is a 16-bit x86 Forth that fits in a 512-byte boot sector"}, {"id": 753504672, "item_id": 47094042, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47094042", "by": "lachlan_gray", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Another crazy one is SectorLISP, 223 lines of asm", "excerpt": "Another crazy one is SectorLISP, 223 lines of asm https://justine.lol/sectorlisp2/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Lil' Fun Langs"}, {"id": 752839632, "item_id": 47052477, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052477", "by": "Jach", "date": "2026-02-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My favorite take on that subject in recent years is", "excerpt": "This is a nice and unexpected release, thanks for writing it. Getting a RPG endorsement is great. I just finished reading his foreword and skimming the table of contents and bibliography from the preview. I'd have liked to see a sample of a middle chapter to really see how technical and deep it gets (e.g. Land of Lisp gives its chapter 8 as a sample which I think is very representative for that book). But I plan to g", "context": "", "use_case": "tiny Lisp interpreter", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I wrote a technical history book on Lisp"}]}