asteroid/PARENSCRIPT-EXPERIMENT.org

ParenScript Conversion Experiment

• Overview
• Goals
• Current JavaScript Files
• Implementation Plan
  • Phase 1: Setup [DONE]
  • Phase 2: Convert Simple Files First
  • Phase 3: Convert Complex Files
  • Phase 4: Testing & Refinement
• Benefits
  • Code Reuse
  • Macros
  • Type Safety
  • Maintainability
• ParenScript Resources
• Notes

Overview

This branch experiments with converting all JavaScript files to ParenScript, allowing us to write client-side code in Common Lisp that compiles to JavaScript.

Goals

• Replace all .js files with ParenScript equivalents
• Maintain same functionality
• Improve code maintainability by using one language (Lisp) for both frontend and backend
• Take advantage of Lisp macros for client-side code generation

Current JavaScript Files

• static/js/admin.js - Admin dashboard functionality
• static/js/auth-ui.js - Authentication UI
• static/js/front-page.js - Front page interactions
• static/js/player.js - Audio player controls
• static/js/profile.js - User profile page
• static/js/users.js - User management

Implementation Plan

Phase 1: Setup [DONE]

• Add ParenScript dependency to asteroid.asd
• Create parenscript-utils.lisp with helper functions
• Create experimental branch

Phase 2: Convert Simple Files First

• Convert auth-ui.js (smallest, simplest)
• Convert profile.js
• Convert users.js

Phase 3: Convert Complex Files

• Convert player.js (audio player logic)
• Convert front-page.js (pop-out player, frameset mode)
• Convert admin.js (queue management, track controls)

Phase 4: Testing & Refinement

• Test all functionality
• Optimize generated JavaScript
• Document ParenScript patterns used

Benefits

Code Reuse

• Share utility functions between frontend and backend
• Use same data structures and validation logic

Macros

• Create domain-specific macros for common UI patterns
• Generate repetitive JavaScript code programmatically

Type Safety

• Catch more errors at compile time
• Better IDE support with Lisp tooling

Maintainability

• Single language for entire stack
• Easier refactoring across frontend/backend boundary

ParenScript Resources

• ParenScript Documentation
• ParenScript GitHub

Notes

This is an EXPERIMENTAL branch. The goal is to evaluate ParenScript for this project, not to immediately replace all JavaScript.

If successful, we can merge incrementally, one file at a time.