# Common Lisp Cookbook

2 Hacker News commenters recommended Common Lisp Cookbook and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a starting point for learning Common Lisp and as a reference to keep alongside it, noting support for various editors.

## Why people recommend it

- Good starting point for Common Lisp (1 comments): "Start here with Common Lisp 8-) https://lispcookbook.github.io/cl-cookbook/getting-started.h..." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48866510))
- Invaluable reference alongside other learning (1 comments): "But the cookbook is invaluable as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48290724))
- Support for various editors (1 comments): "there is some support for various editors" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47906657))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crafting-interpreters.md): 60 recommend
- [Clean Code by Robert C. Martin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clean-code.md): 31 recommend
- [The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pragmatic-programmer.md): 28 recommend
- [How to Design Programs by Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-design-programs.md): 18 recommend
- [Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastering-emacs.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Common+Lisp+Cookbook&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Common Lisp Cookbook", https://hackerapproved.com/p/common-lisp-cookbook/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).