tweak lists of prog lang implementations
[lambda.git] / index.mdwn
index f1be5a1..91106ec 100644 (file)
@@ -202,13 +202,21 @@ the operating system differently. One major implementation is called Racket,
 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
+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",
@@ -216,7 +224,8 @@ OCaml, developed by the INRIA academic group in France. Sometimes we may refer t
 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),
+    (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).)
 
@@ -230,7 +239,13 @@ other. But these languages also have *a lot* in common, and if you're
 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).)
+    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".
+
+    (Wikipedia on
+[Haskell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_%28programming_language%29) and
+[GHC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Haskell_Compiler).)
 
 
 <a name=installing></a>