Re: LW as a web app

https://github.com/screenshotbot/screenshotbot-oss (https://screenshotbot.io) is LispWorks, single multi-threaded process with Hunchentoot behind Nginx.

We deliver to level 0. Deploys are:

* (asdf:load-system <top-level-system>) locally
* rsync all compiled fasls
* (asdf:load-system <top-level-system>) on server

There are some hacks required to get this right. We never attempt to reload quicklisp systems for instance, in those cases we restart the server. To keep things simple, I suggest making sure your local directory name matches that directory name on the server (it can be done without this restriction but adds a bunch of complexity)

--Arnold

> On 02/11/2026 2:22 AM EST Adam Weaver (as adam at cleversure dot com dot au) <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>  
> Does anyone else use LW for web middleware?
> 
> I'm currently using a DELIVERed LW app to run a web service. Originally I
> wrote a HTTP/1.1 server, but then realised that I didn't want to learn
> HTTP/2 or HTTP/3. So I transitioned the front end to Caddy, and
> reverse-proxied back to my lisp code.
> 
> Which required a FASTCGI responder: https://github.com/adamweaver/lw-fcgi
> 
> ... and it works fine. COMM:START-UP-SERVER is a blessing.
> 
> But now I'm thinking about the new web app I need for a new website, and
> the thought of PHP leaves me cold.
> 
> I was toying with writing it in PERL ... but then it occurred to me that
> I've already got my *highly* *idiosyncratic* lisp code in action ... so
> why not just add the custom stuff I need to my current ball-o'-mud?
> 
> But one of the /benefits/ of scripting langs like PHP or Perl is that
> they're interpreted on-the-fly, so adding new routes or funcs is as
> simple as making the change and FTP/SSH/GIT-PUSH -ing up the change,
> and the new code is live.
> 
> Opposed to my compiled ball-o'-mud which requires teardown of the running
> server and starting the server up again.
> 
> Which, again, is _fine_ but not as simple as the quick hacks that
> scripting langs allow.
> 
> Does anyone else use a lisp mudball like this? And are you using lisp as
> the webserver (hunchentoot / woo / Franz / errr - others?), or as a
> simple CGI (but how's the performance?) or something else entirely?
> 
> Adam
> 
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