Lisp introspection? when a function is called and when it exits

introspection, lisp

Solution

You can use `(trace function)` for a simple mechanism. For something more involved, here is a good discussion from comp.lang.lisp.

[CL_USER]>
(defun fac (n)
    "Naïve factorial implementation"
    (if (< 1 n)
        (* n (fac (- n 1)))
        1))
FAC
[CL_USER]> (trace fac)
;; Tracing function FAC.
(FAC)
[CL_USER]> (fac 5)
1. Trace: (FAC '5)
2. Trace: (FAC '4)
3. Trace: (FAC '3)
4. Trace: (FAC '2)
5. Trace: (FAC '1)
5. Trace: FAC ==> 1
4. Trace: FAC ==> 2
3. Trace: FAC ==> 6
2. Trace: FAC ==> 24
1. Trace: FAC ==> 120
120
[CL_USER]>

Problem

With common lisp and I am assuming the introspection properties. How can I add code to common lisp code that will tell me when a function is called and when has finished executing. I want to take any lisp code and this particular modification to the code. I figure with lisp's AST analysis, this should be possible.

Original source