learning_scheme.mdwn

   1 *   [Try Scheme in your browser](http://tryscheme.sourceforge.net/) (slow, bare-bones)
   2 *   This site's guide to [[Installing Scheme|/installing#scheme]]
   3 *   This site's [[explanation of the differences between Scheme, OCaml, and Haskell|rosetta1]]
   4
   5 <!-- -->
   6 *   Wikipedia on
   7 [Lisp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_%28programming_language%29),
   8 [Scheme](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_%28programming_language%29),
   9 [Racket](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racket_%28programming_language%29), and
  10 [Chicken](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHICKEN_%28Scheme_implementation%29)
  11
  12
  13 ## Tutorials ##
  14
  15 *   [Welcome to Racket](http://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/intro.html#%28part._.Interacting_with_.Racket%29) from Racket Guide
  16 *   Chicken [Getting started](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Getting%20started)
  17
  18 If you are new to programming or if you have the patience to do so, you should work through a textbook:
  19
  20 *   a recommended text available online is [Teach Yourself Scheme in Fixnum Days](http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/dorai/t-y-scheme/t-y-scheme.html)
  21 *   the *Little Schemer* book(s) we recommended for the seminar are good introductions, requiring more commitment
  22 *   [How to Design Programs](http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/) (HtDP),
  23 by Matthias Felleisen, et al., is another good choice, which the Racket group recommends
  24 (the [1st ed](http://htdp.org/2003-09-26/Book/) <!-- go up a level for solutions, extra problems, errata -->
  25 is also available, and covers some additional topics like mutation; whenever the book says "Scheme," you can read it as "Racket")
  26
  27 If you're already a programmer and you're in more of a hurry:
  28
  29 *   you could look at the [Quick Introduction to Racket](http://docs.racket-lang.org/quick/index.html), which uses DrRacket and a picture-drawing library
  30 *   or [An Introduction to Lambda Calculus and Scheme](http://www.jetcafe.org/~jim/lambda.html)
  31
  32
  33
  34 ## Advanced Racket Docs ##
  35
  36 *   [Racket Guide](http://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/index.html) starts with a tutorial, then describes the rest of the Racket language. Intended for programmers who are new to (at least some part of) Racket. If you are new to programming, you should instead start with one of the textbooks listed above. Describes parts of the Racket language that go beyond the learning-oriented fragments of HtDP.
  37 *   [Racket Reference](http://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/index.html) defines the core Racket language and its most prominent libraries. Less friendly than Racket Guide, but more precise and complete.
  38 *   <form action="http://docs.racket-lang.org/search/index.html" method="get">
  39 Racket API Search: <input type="text" name="q" /> |
  40 racket/[help](http://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/Interactive_Help.html)
  41 </form>
  42 *   [#lang r5rs](http://docs.racket-lang.org/r5rs/index.html), `'cons` expresses `mcons`
  43 *   [#lang r6rs](http://docs.racket-lang.org/r6rs/index.html) or #!r6rs
  44 *   Supported [SRFIs](http://docs.racket-lang.org/srfi/index.html)
  45 *   [Libraries and collections](http://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/collects.html)
  46 *   [(require data)](http://docs.racket-lang.org/data/index.html)
  47 *   [(require math)](http://docs.racket-lang.org/math/index.html)
  48 *   racket/[enter and rerequire](http://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/interactive.html)
  49 *   [Debugging](http://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/debugging.html) |
  50 the [Stepper](http://docs.racket-lang.org/stepper/index.html)
  51 *   [Deploying](http://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/running.html)
  52 *   [raco](http://docs.racket-lang.org/raco/index.html) cmdline tool
  53
  54 <!-- -->
  55 *   Macros in [Guide](http://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/macros.html) |
  56 [Reference](http://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/Macros.html)
  57 *   [Macro debugger](http://docs.racket-lang.org/macro-debugger/index.html)
  58
  59
  60 <!-- -->
  61 *   Racket: [latest release](http://download.racket-lang.org/) |
  62 [blog](http://blog.racket-lang.org/) |
  63 [wiki](https://github.com/plt/racket/wiki)
  64 *   [Style guidelines](http://docs.racket-lang.org/style/index.html) <!-- "How to Program Racket" -->
  65 *   [raco pkg](http://docs.racket-lang.org/pkg/) package manager |
  66 [repository](http://pkgs.racket-lang.org/#)
  67 *   Racket [source](https://github.com/plt/racket/) |
  68 [bugs](http://bugs.racket-lang.org/)
  69
  70 <!-- -->
  71 *   [[Extending Racket]] <!-- this site -->
  72 *   Typed Racket [Guide](http://docs.racket-lang.org/ts-guide/index.html) |
  73 [Reference](http://docs.racket-lang.org/ts-reference/index.html)
  74 *   [Lazy Racket](http://docs.racket-lang.org/lazy/index.html)
  75 *   [PLT Redex](http://redex.racket-lang.org/), for specifying and testing operational semantics
  76
  77
  78 ## Advanced Chicken Docs ##
  79
  80 *   [(declare (uses *unit*)) vs (include "*path*")](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Basic%20mode%20of%20operation)
  81 *   Using [csi](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Using%20the%20interpreter) |
  82 [csc](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Using%20the%20compiler) |
  83 [deploying](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Deployment)
  84 *   Supported [language](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Supported%20language) |
  85 [standards](http://wiki.call-cc.org/supported-standards)
  86 *   <form action="http://api.call-cc.org/cdoc" method="get">
  87 Chicken API Search:
  88 <a href="">Chickadee</a> <input name="q" type="text" />
  89 <input type="submit" name="query-name" hidden value="Look+up" />
  90 <input type="submit" name="query-regex" value="regex" />
  91 </form>
  92 *   [FAQ](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/faq)
  93 *   Chicken [development](http://code.call-cc.org/#development) |
  94 [process](http://wiki.call-cc.org/development-process) |
  95 [bugs](http://bugs.call-cc.org/)
  96
  97
  98 <!-- -->
  99 *   [chicken-setup](http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/karmic/man1/chicken-setup.1.html)
 100 *   [chicken-install](http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/utopic/en/man1/chicken-install.1.html)
 101 *   Eggs: [managing](http://wiki.call-cc.org/eggs) |
 102 [authoring](http://wiki.call-cc.org/eggs%20tutorial)
 103 ([more](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Extensions)) |
 104 [repository](http://wiki.call-cc.org/chicken-projects/egg-index-4.html)
 105 *   [Distributed egg repos](http://wiki.call-cc.org/distributed-egg-repos)
 106 *   Tutorial on writing eggs: [1](http://shisaa.jp/postset/chicken-scheme-1.html) [2](http://shisaa.jp/postset/chicken-scheme-2.html) [3](http://shisaa.jp/postset/chicken-scheme-3.html)
 107 *   [Data model](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Data%20representation) |
 108 [internals](http://wiki.call-cc.org/Internals) |
 109 [FFI](http://wiki.call-cc.org/man/4/Interface%20to%20external%20functions%20and%20variables)
 110
 111
 112
 113 ## Other Scheme Links ##
 114
 115 The Scheme language is standardized; the various implementations of the language usually adhere to what's published in the current standard and add on
 116 different handy extensions. The first standard was published in 1975. A revision was published a few years later called "The revised report on Scheme, a
 117 dialect of Lisp." Thereafter, revisions of the standard were titled "The Revised Revised Report..." and so on, or "The Revised^n Report..." for
 118 short. One widely implemented standard is
 119 [The Revised^5 Report on Scheme](http://www.schemers.org/Documents/Standards/R5RS/HTML/),
 120 or R5RS, published in 1998. Another standard
 121 [R6RS](http://www.r6rs.org/final/html/r6rs/r6rs.html)
 122 ([libraries](http://www.r6rs.org/final/html/r6rs-lib/r6rs-lib.html))
 123 was ratified in 2007, but had many detractors and wasn't fully accepted in the community. Currently Scheme is being split into a lean minimal base, now ratified as
 124 [R7RS-small](http://trac.sacrideo.us/wg/raw-attachment/wiki/WikiStart/r7rs.pdf)
 125 ([errata](http://trac.sacrideo.us/wg/wiki/R7RSSmallErrata)),
 126 and a richer language
 127 [R7RS-large](http://www.scheme-reports.org/2015/working-group-2.html)
 128 (still being designed) that standardizes many add-ons.
 129
 130 *   [Scheme FAQ](http://community.schemewiki.org/?scheme-faq)
 131 *   [Scheme Requests for Implementation](http://srfi.schemers.org/) (SRFIs)
 132
 133
 134 <!-- -->
 135 *   [The Scheme Programming Language](http://scheme.com/tspl4/)/4ed, by R. Kent Dybvig ([errata](http://scheme.com/tspl4-errata.html))
 136 *   [Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs](http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-4.html)/2ed (SICP)
 137 *   [Programming Languages: Application and Interpretation](http://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs173/2012/book/)/2ed
 138
 139 <!-- -->
 140 *   [The Adventures of a Pythonista in Schemeland](http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~micheles/scheme/index.html)
 141 *   [Comparing Chicken to C, Python, and Perl](http://wiki.call-cc.org/language-comparison)
 142 *   [Chicken for Pythonistas](http://wiki.call-cc.org/chicken-for-python-programmers)
 143 *   [Haskell vs Scheme](http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/nq1k/haskell_and_scheme_which_one_and_why/)
 144
 145 <!-- -->
 146 *   Chicken [Tips and tricks](http://wiki.call-cc.org/tips%20and%20tricks)
 147 *   The [Schematics Scheme Cookbook](http://schemecookbook.org/) is a collaborative effort to produce documentation and recipes for using Scheme for common tasks.
 148 *   [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/scheme?sort=faq) questions tagged "scheme"
 149 *   [Scheme Wiki](http://community.schemewiki.org/)
 150 *   [Documents at Schemers.org](http://www.schemers.org/Documents/)
 151
 152
 153
 154
 155
 156 <!--
 157 Scheme is a very small language which is based on Lisp, the oldest of functional programming languages. Scheme's main advantages are elegance (the entire language can be built on top of a handful of primitive list manipulating operations), and the enormous corpus of educational material which has been created for it. As such, Scheme is the perfect place to start learning the techniques of functional abstraction. If you decide to study Scheme, you should make sure you that your path through the available material brings you into contact with all of the following (in no particular order):
 158
 159     recursion (vs. iteration)
 160     bottom-up design
 161     first-class functions <http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2006/03/execution-in-kingdom-of-nouns.html>
 162     lambda functions
 163     closures
 164     continuations
 165     macros
 166
 167 An excellent place to start is the book: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (considered by some the "bible" of functional programming, which may give a false implication as to its breadth, despite it being a very good book). There are also countless other great books and websites which have been published to answer questions on how to learn Lisp, why to learn Lisp, etc., so searching the web will most certainly be worth your time.
 168 -->
 169
 170 <!--
 171 [Racket and vim](http://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/Vim.html)
 172 [Chicken and vim](http://wiki.call-cc.org/vim)
 173 -->