One student session will be held every Wednesday from XX-YY at WHERE.
-->
-## [[Jump to content (lecture notes and more)|topics_and_themes.mdwn]] ##
-
-<!--
-See [below](#installing) for how to get the programming languages running on your computer.
-
-* Links for help [[learning Scheme]]
-* Links for help [[learning OCaml]]
-* [[Translating between OCaml Scheme and Haskell]]
-
-[[Lambda Evaluator]]: Usable in your browser. It can help you check whether your answer to some of the homework questions works correctly. There is also now a [library](/lambda_library) of lambda-calculus arithmetical and list operations, some relatively advanced.
-
-* We've added a [[Monad Library]] for OCaml.
-* We've posted a [[State Monad Tutorial]].
-
-##[[Offsite Reading]]##
-There's lots of links here already to tutorials and encyclopedia entries about many of the notions we'll be dealing with.
--->
+## [[Index of Content (lecture notes and more)|content]] ##
## Announcements ##
* Here is information about [[How to get the programming languages running on your computer|installing]].
-* Here are lecture notes for week 1: [[order|topics/week1 order]];
-[[the introduction to functional programming|topics/week1]], along
-with [[the homework|exercises/assignment1]] and some [[advanced
-notes|topics/week1 advanced notes]].
-
- > Topics: Basics of Functional Programming
-
* Henceforth, unless we say otherwise, every homework will be "due" by
Wednesday morning after the Thursday seminar in which we refer to it.
(Usually we'll post the assignment shortly before the seminar, but don't
what you think you need in order to solve the problem.
+
+
+(**Week 1**) Thursday 29 Jan 2015
+
+> Topics:
+[[Order in programming languages and natural language|topics/week1 order]];
+[[Introduction to functional programming|topics/week1]];
+[[Homework|exercises/assignment1]];
+[[Advanced notes|topics/week1 advanced notes]]
+
+
+<!--
+[[Lambda Evaluator]]: Usable in your browser. It can help you check whether your answer to some of the homework questions works correctly. There is also now a [library](/lambda_library) of lambda-calculus arithmetical and list operations, some relatively advanced.
+
+We've added a [[Monad Library]] for OCaml.
+We've posted a [[State Monad Tutorial]].
+-->
+
+
## Course Overview ##
The overarching goal of this seminar is to introduce concepts and techniques from
understanding of them to recognize them in use, use them yourself at least
in simple ways, and to be able to read more about them when appropriate.
-[[More about the topics and larger themes of the course| topics and themes]]
+[[More about the topics and larger themes of the course|overview]]
## Who Can Participate? ##
of the extent to which they emphasize, and are designed around those idioms. Languages like Python and JavaScript are sometimes themselves
described as "more functional" than other languages, like C.
-<!--
-## What is Functional Programming? ##
-
-Here's a [survey conducted at Microsoft](http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=141506) asking programmers what they understand "functional programming" to be. Don't take their responses to be authoritative... this is a just a "man in the street" (seat?) poll.
-
-Read more about the [uptake of Haskell](http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2010/12/haskell-researchers-announce-discovery.html) among programmers in the street.
--->
-
In any case, here is some more context for the three languages we will be focusing on.
* **Scheme** is one of two or three major dialects of *Lisp*, which is a large family
and that is what we recommend you use. If you're already using or comfortable with
another Scheme implementation, though, there's no compelling reason to switch.
- <!-- Racket doesn't have R7RS-small, and won't anytime soon. :-( Perhaps prefer Chicken? -->
+ Another good Scheme implementation is Chicken. For our purposes, this is in some
+respects superior to Racket, and in other respects inferior. <!--
+Racket doesn't have R7RS-small, and won't anytime soon. :-(
+Also Chicken's library collection seems stronger, or at least better organized and maintained.
+Other R7RS-friendly: [Gauche](http://practical-scheme.net/gauche), [Chibi](https://code.google.com/p/chibi-scheme).
+-->
- Racket stands to Scheme in something like the relation Firefox stands to HTML.
+ Racket and Chicken stand to Scheme in something like the relation Firefox stands to HTML.
- (Wikipedia on [Lisp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_%28programming_language%29),
+ (Wikipedia on
+[Lisp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_%28programming_language%29),
[Scheme](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_%28programming_language%29),
-and [Racket](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racket_%28programming_language%29).)
+[Racket](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racket_%28programming_language%29), and
+[Chicken](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHICKEN_%28Scheme_implementation%29).)
* **Caml** is one of two major dialects of *ML*, which is another large
family of programming languages. Caml has only one active "implementation",
more generally; but you can assume that what we're talking about always works more
specifically in OCaml.
- (Wikipedia on [ML](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_%28programming_language%29),
-[Caml](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caml),
-and [OCaml](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCaml).)
+ (Wikipedia on
+[ML](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_%28programming_language%29),
+[Caml](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caml), and
+[OCaml](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCaml).)
-* Those of you with some programming background may have encountered a third
-prominent functional programming language, **Haskell**. This is also used a
+* **Haskell** is also used a
lot in the academic contexts we'll be working through. Its surface syntax
differs from Caml, and there are various important things one can do in
each of Haskell and Caml that one can't (or can't as easily) do in the
familiar with one of them, it's generally not hard to move between it and the
other.
- (Wikipedia on [Haskell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_%28programming_language%29).)
-
-
-<a name=installing></a>
-[[How to get the programming languages running on your computer]]
+ Like Scheme, Haskell has a couple of different implementations. The
+dominant one, and the one we recommend you install, is called GHC, short
+for "Glasgow Haskell Compiler".
-<!--
-[[Family tree of functional programming languages]]
+ (Wikipedia on
+[Haskell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_%28programming_language%29) and
+[GHC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Haskell_Compiler).)
-[[Translating between OCaml Scheme and Haskell]]
-Links to tutorials?
--->
+<a name=installing></a>
+[[How to get the programming languages running on your computer|installing]]
## Recommended Books ##
* Another good book, covering some of the same ground as the Hankin, and the Hindley & Seldin, but delving deeper into typed lambda calculi, is *Types and Programming Languages*, by Benjamin Pierce, currently $77 hardback / $68 kindle on [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262162091). This book has many examples in OCaml.
-<!-- Links to online books and tutorials about programming in Scheme and other languages -->
-
----