Copyright © 2003-2005, Peter Seibel

32. Conclusion: What’s Next?

I hope by now you’re convinced that the title of this book isn’t an oxymoron. However, it’s quite likely there’s some area of programming that’s of great practical importance to you that I haven’t discussed at all. For instance, I haven’t said anything about how to develop graphical user interfaces (GUIs), how to connect to relational databases, how to parse XML, or how to write programs that act as clients for various network protocols. Similarly, I haven’t discussed two topics that will become important when you write real applications in Common Lisp: optimizing your Lisp code and packaging your application for delivery.

I’m obviously not going to cover all these topics in depth in this final chapter. Instead, I’ll give you a few pointers you can use to pursue whichever aspect of Lisp programming interests you most.