Awesome Scheme

Contents

• Upcoming Events
• Standards
• Implementations
• Package Managers
• Read, Learn, Teach
• Editor and IDEs
• Web Development
• Past Events

Events (2020)

• Dynamic Languages Symposium at SPLASH 2020: November 15-20 - Chicago, USA
• Scheme and Functional Programming Workshop at ICFP 2020: August 24-26 - virtual
• European Lisp Symposium: April 27-28 - virtual
• Racketfest 2020: February 27 - Berlin, Germany

Advocacy

• Why Write Compilers in Scheme?

Standards

• R⁵RS (1998, errata)
• R⁶RS (2007; unofficial errata-corrected version; errata; official version)
  • Libraries (unofficial errata-corrected version; official version)
  • Appendices (unofficial errata-corrected version; official version)
  • Rationale (unofficial errata-corrected version; official version)
• R⁷RS (2013; errata-corrected version; errata; original version)
• R⁷RS large edition (in progress)
• SRFI (Scheme Requests for Implementation)

Implementations

Native Compilers

• Chez Scheme: R6RS, official installer also for Windows, considered one of the fastest scheme implementations.
• Ikarus R6RS
• MIT/GNU Scheme: R7RS

Uses another Scheme as backend

• Gerbil: R7RS, compiles to C, based on Gambit, extends gambit with better macro and module systems.
• Racket: R6RS, beginner friendly, full Windows support, optional typing, essentially a superset of scheme, tons of libraries, moving/moved to a Chez Scheme backend.

Transpilers to C

• CHICKEN: R5RS and R7RS, beginner friendly, exceptional community, unique implementation of GC.
• Cyclone: R7RS, experimental extension of Chicken-style GC with native thread support.
• Gambit: R5RS, official installers also for macOS, iOS, Windows, considered quite fast.
• Bigloo: R5RS, can also compile to Java-Virtual-Machine (JVM) classes, limited optional typing.

Bytecode VM's and JVM/CLR

• Chibi-Scheme: R7RS
• Gauche: R7RS, compiles to standalone executable, official installers also for Windows, Docker.
• GNU Guile: R6RS, getting JIT executable support soon, beginner friendly, officially supported by GNU, scripting language for many pieces of GNU software.
• IronScheme: R6RS, based on Common-Language-Runtime (CLR).
• Kawa: R7RS, based on JVM, compile to JVM classes, limited optional typing.

JavaScript Interpreter

• BiwaScheme: R6RS, partial R7RS, compiler to intermediate represantion + VM
• LIPS: R7RS, most of the spec is written in core Scheme, good interop with JavaScript

Package Managers

• Akku: for portable R6RS and R7RS libraries
• Snow: for portable R7RS libraries
• GNU Guix: purely-functional package manager and GNU/Linux distro
• Racket Packages: for Racket libraries and applications

Books

• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: classic computer science textbook from MIT
• How to Design Programs: an easier-to-approach, more down-to-earth counterpart to SICP
• The Little Schemer: teaches recursive thinking using Scheme (code)
• The Seasoned Schemer: continuation of The Little Schemer (code)
• The Reasoned Schemer: teaches logic programming using Scheme (code)
• The Scheme Programming Language: language reference by the author of Chez Scheme
• Essentials of Programming Languages: textbook on programming language implementation

Research Papers

• Bibliography of Scheme research

Editor and IDEs

• Geiser: most comprehensive Emacs support for many Scheme implementations (MELPA)

Applications

• GNUCash: personal finance app scriptable in Guile
• SIAG: Scheme In A Grid: old Scheme-scriptable spreadsheet with built-in web server

Web Development

• SXML: very popular S-expression representation of XML/HTML
• CSS-expressions: S-expression representation of CSS (Racket)
• chibi html-parser: lenient HTML parser (R7RS; Docs; Akku, Snow)

Text Processing

• Scribble: popular, somewhat lightweight Scheme-based markup language (Racket, R7RS)
• Skribilo: TeX/LaTeX-like document processor with Scheme scripting
• Skribe and Scheme Scribe: older Scheme-based document processors from INRIA
• Pollen: a fancy typesetting system for writing entire books in Racket

Graphics, Music, Audio, Video

• LilyPond: music notation language with Scheme scripting
• libfive: script-driven solid modeling CAD based on Guile
• Fluxus: portable 3D game engine for live coding in Scheme
• Impromptu: live coding with Scheme on macOS
• Extempore: portable live coding in Scheme
• Scheme For Max: live coding with Scheme in Max/MSP

Languages and Computation

• Nanopass Framework: a DSL for factoring compilers into many small passes and IRs
• Harlan: a Scheme-based programming language for GPU computing
• packrat: a PEG parser generator with a Scheme DSL (Akku, Chicken, Racket)
• r6rs-pffi - portable foreign-function interface for several implementations (R6RS; Home & Docs; Akku)

Events (2019)

• Gambit Scheme 30th anniversary workshop: October 12-13 - Montreal, Canada
• 20th Annual Scheme and Functional Programming Workshop, 2019: August 18 - Berlin, Germany