For Immediate Release

Contact:
Sheng-Chuan Wu
Vice President, Corporate Development
scw@franz.com
(510) 452-2000 x170

Gary Cornell
Publisher
Apress L.P.
gary@apress.com
510-549-5930 x114

Franz Inc. And Apress L.P. Jointly Announce the Upcoming Publication of Three Books on Common Lisp in the Apress/Franz Common Lisp Series

Oakland, CA, March 15, 2004 - Franz Inc. and Apress L.P. announce the upcoming publication of three books on Common Lisp that mark the debut of the Apress/Franz series in Lisp. The technology embodied by Lisp and Lisp-based applications ranks among the best programming language achievements of the twentieth century. Apress is dedicated to making Lisp technology available in an easily accessible form by publishing an exclusive line of new Lisp books. The release of the following three books represents the initial installment of this effort. All three books should appear in the fourth quarter of this year.

The first book, a reprint of the classic On Lisp by Paul Graham, is a comprehensive study of advanced Lisp techniques, with special emphasis on Lisp macros. Graham, one of the original creators of Yahoo! Store and a pioneer in Bayesian spam filtering, once equated Lisp's significance to a programmer to that of oil painting (versus tempera) to a painter, as it gives the programmer a much "greater scope to the imagination." In On Lisp, Graham eloquently explains the reasons Lisp is "a better paintbrush."

The second book, Practical Common Lisp by Peter Seibel, a key member of WebLogic before its acquisition by BEA Systems, uses small, practical and useful examples to show readers how to use this better paintbrush. Through these examples, programmers will learn to write useful Lisp code quickly and thus understand why Lisp is truly one of the most "practical" languages.

The third book, ANSI Common Lisp Reference Book by David Margolies of Franz Inc., explains in dictionary format with examples the use of more than 800 functions in ANSI Common Lisp. This book is an essential desktop reference for programmers seeking to explore the richness of Common Lisp.

"Together, these three books offer a broad roadmap on how to employ Lisp to gain a competitive edge in today's software market," said Fritz Kunze, CEO of Franz Inc. Gary Cornell, co-founder and publisher of Apress, added, "The traditional view of Lisp is that it is used in academic AI experiments. At Apress, we think Lisp is a tool that all programmers can benefit from mastering."

About Franz Inc.

Franz Inc., based in Oakland, California, is the leading vendor of dynamic object-oriented development tools featuring Allegro Common Lisp and CLOS. Founded in 1984 and privately held, Franz Inc. has demonstrated consistent growth and profitability since its inception. To learn more about Franz Inc. and its modern Common Lisp tools, contact Sheng-Chuan Wu at +1(510) 452-2000, extension 170, or e-mail info@franz.com.

About Apress L.P.

Apress L.P., based in Berkeley, California, is a fast-growing publisher of technical books devoted to meeting the needs of programming professionals. Apress is dedicated to publishing titles of the highest quality and has compiled a team of authors that reads like a veritable "Who's Who" of the computing industry. To learn more about Apress, its large collection of technical books and its innovative approach to publishing, contact Julie Miller at 510-549-5930, extension 105, or e-mail info@apress.com.