This README file is located in http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fateman/papers/lisp2ntl/README. This directory contains material to allow Victor Shoup's NTL 5.4 to be used with Allegro Common Lisp (and probably many other systems with a similar interface). NTL includes very fast routines for Number Theoretic calculations, and features, for example, fast arithmetic on large polynomials. Features include rapid factoring (one variable, over finite field or integers). In addition to this README file, the parent file directory contains three source files and one dll. ntldll.dll is the compiled and linked version of the NTL 5.4 system as well as the lisp interface code. loadntl.cl A file (which can be compiled if you like, to loadntl.fasl) must be read in to Allegro Common Lisp 7.0. It provides the Lisp side of the interface. There are lots of comments in this file. You also need to read in the dll, e.g. (load "thedll.dll") for it to work. I have also provided two C++ file that I wrote, in case you want to re-make the dll, or have different needs for using the NTL system. You may, for example, want to expose additional entry points to the NTL code. LispWins3.cpp is a file that sets up the linkages between Victor Shoup's NTL (version 5.4) and can be compiled in Windows visual C++ 6.0. To make this work, this file is added to the src code in the NTL project, and then the project is re-built. Instructions for compiling thedll.dll from this are almost the same as given by Shoup's instructions, except that, following the Wizard for a new project, choose to make a windows DLL that exports symbols. It doesn't need MFC. I found it necessary to change the "pre-compiled headers" directive to "automatic", also.) I am not an expert on this stuff and can't give you advice. I think that compiling under Linux or various versions of unix should be easy, but I haven't tried it. LispFact.cpp contains the interface to the polynomial factoring routine. Distribution etc. Shoup's NTL is covered by the GNU public license. If my code is considered a modification of NTL, then it too is GPL. If it is not covered by GPL, I would like to assert (1) I wrote it and own it. (2) You have my permission to use it for whatever you wish to do with it, now or any time in the future, so long as (3) You agree that I am in no way responsible for problems you might have in using this code. Richard Fateman 5/24/05