Learning Scheme with PLT Scheme
Robert Hicks
download?
Robert
Aaron W. Hsu
> What is the best book to use when learning Scheme with the latest PLT
> download?
Us whatever book fits your needs, and PLT will likely work for you. SICP,
TSPL, The Little Schemer, HtDP, &c. are all good books, and you can use
PLT Scheme with each of them.
Aaron W. Hsu
--
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. -- C. S. Lewis
Grant Rettke
> On Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:21:23 -0400, Robert Hicks <sigz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > What is the best book to use when learning Scheme with the latest PLT
> > download?
>
> Us whatever book fits your needs, and PLT will likely work for you. SICP,
> TSPL, The Little Schemer, HtDP, &c. are all good books, and you can use
> PLT Scheme with each of them.
It is true. Each book has a different style, you should find the one
that you like best.
Eli Barzilay
> What is the best book to use when learning Scheme with the latest
> PLT download?
Besides the books that you got recommendation for, note that PLT comes
with several documents that are intended for learning how to use the
system. These are the first block of entries on the documentation
front page, also available at http://docs.plt-scheme.org/ .
--
((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) Eli Barzilay:
http://barzilay.org/ Maze is Life!
Robert H
Thanks all...I see the 4th edition of TSPL is out and update for
R6...so I am going to try that one first.
Robert
Marlene Miller
> Thanks all...I see the 4th edition of TSPL is out and update for
> R6...so I am going to try that one first.
>
> Robert
The Scheme Programming Language 4E, Dybvig will be available 8/14
Eduardo Cavazos
The online version is available already.
Ed
Robert H
This is probably more than I want to know but I mentioned to somebody
that I was
going to be learning Scheme from that book and I got back "That book
teaches
the R6RS version and R6RS is the frankenstein version of Scheme".
Since I am new to the Scheme language what is that about?
Robert
Aaron W. Hsu
> This is probably more than I want to know but I mentioned to somebody
> that I was
> going to be learning Scheme from that book and I got back "That book
> teaches
> the R6RS version and R6RS is the frankenstein version of Scheme".
> Since I am new to the Scheme language what is that about?
Yes, this is more than you want to know right now. Suffice to say that
there are three "actively" used standards in the Scheme community,
R[4,5,6]RS. I believe IEEE Scheme is the only official standard, with the
others being de facto standards by convention and committee.
R5RS is a fairly straighforward document that doesn't put a lot of extra
libraries out there. R6RS is the latest and recently ratified standard
that forms a pretty dividing line between the Scheme community, with some
implementations outright refusing to implement it.
At your stage of development, however, such flamewars and arguments
probably aren't going to help you. Just pick up a book that you like and
use the standard that you want to use for the moment. As you become more
experienced, you'll see the differences in them, and be able to make
judgment calls about the one that will best suit your needs. I would just
keep an open mind at this moment and learn from some good books. TSPL is
available in versions that teach R5RS and R6RS, so take your pick, or
better, read both and see how they differ. SICP is mostly R5RS, and most
of the other books are R5RS as well.
Robert H
Thank you...that is about all I needed to know. :-)
Robert
Benjamin L. Russell
wrote:
Welcome to Scheme! It is probably still too early for you to be
exposed to the pro- and con-R6RS arguments.
After you start to feel comfortable with Scheme, you may wish to take
a look at the arguments for and against R6RS ratification at the
following site [1]:
R6RS Ratification Vote
http://www.r6rs.org/ratification/results.html
When you feel ready, take your pick in reading the pro-arguments; for
the con-arguments, I would recommend reading the statements by Chris
Hanson [2], Shiro Kawai [3], Taylor R. Campbell [4], and especially
Nils M. Holm [5].
Scheme is a continually evolving programming language; as if R4RS,
R5RS, and R6RS weren't enough, there is even an R7RS in the works [6]
(although nothing specific has been revealed). Grant Rettke has also
reported on the addition of two new members to the R7RS Steering
Committee [7].
There are many strange implementations [8] stalking this variety of
Middle Earth called "Scheme." Each of these creatures behaves
differently, yet each is still called "Scheme." A list of various
other entities populating this strange land is also available at
schemers.org [8]. You will even find strange alligators and their
eggs affected by the magic of the lambda-calculus [9], whose force is
felt throughout this realm. With apologies to J. R. R. Tolkien [10],
>Data and procedures and the values they amass,
> Higher-order functions to combine and mix and match,
>Objects with their local state, the messages they pass,
> A propery, a package, the control point for a catch--
>In the Lambda Order they are all first-class.
>
>One Thing to name them all,
> One Thing to define them,
>One Thing to place them in environments and bind them,
> In the Lambda Order they are all first-class.
There is a reason that SICP is commonly referred to as the "Wizard
Book," and that there is an illustration of a sorcerer and the
sorcerer's apprentice on the cover [11], as follows (Chapter 1, first
paragraph) [12]:
>We are about to study the idea of a computational process.
>Computational processes are abstract beings that inhabit computers. As
>they evolve, processes manipulate other abstract things called data.
>The evolution of a process is directed by a pattern of rules called a
>program. People create programs to direct processes. In effect, we
>conjure the spirits of the computer with our spells.
>
>A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer's idea of a spirit.
>It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all.
>However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer
>questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by
>controlling a robot arm in a factory. The programs we use to conjure
>processes are like a sorcerer's spells. They are carefully composed from
>symbolic expressions in arcane and esoteric programming languages that
>prescribe the tasks we want our processes to perform.
Many discoveries await you on your journey. Some may amaze you;
others may confound you; yet all will intrigue you. As Alan J. Perlis
wrote (Foreword, last paragraph) [13], "Invent and fit; have fits and
reinvent!" With apologies to Perlis [13]: We toast the Scheme
programmer who pens thoughts within nests of parentheses!
-- Benjamin L. Russell
[1] "R6RS Ratification Vote." R6RS.Org. 6 Jan. 2008. 7
Aug. 2009. <http://www.r6rs.org/ratification/results.html>.
[2] Hanson, Chris. "R6RS Ratification Vote." R6RS.Org. 6 Jan. 2008. 7
Aug. 2009. <http://www.r6rs.org/ratification/results.html#X78>.
[3] Kawai, Shiro. "R6RS Ratification Vote." R6RS.Org. 6 Jan. 2008. 7
Aug. 2009. <http://www.r6rs.org/ratification/results.html#X99>.
[4] Campbell, Taylor R. "R6RS Ratification Vote." R6RS.Org. 6 Jan.
2008. 7 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.r6rs.org/ratification/results.html#X100>.
[5] Holm, Nils M. "R6RS Ratification Vote." R6RS.Org. 6 Jan. 2008. 7
Aug. 2009. <http://www.r6rs.org/ratification/results.html#X94>.
[6] "R7RS.Org." R7RS.Org. 30 Aug. 2006. 7 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.r7rs.org/>.
[7] Rettke, Grant. "Already Postive Change for R7RS | Wisdom and
Wonder." Online posting. 2 May 2009. WISDOM AND WONDER: COMPUTER
SCIENCE AND PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY. Grant Rettke. 7 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.wisdomandwonder.com/link/2850/already-postive-change-for-r7rs>.
[8] Bendiken, Arto. "Introduction | '(scheme . info)." Arto Bendiken.
2007. 7 Aug. 2009. <http://scheme.info/>.
[9] Victor, Bret. "Alligator Eggs!" _Bret Victor's website._ Bret
Victor. 11 May 2007. 7 Aug. 2009.
<http://worrydream.com/AlligatorEggs/>.
[10] Clinger, Jonathan (editor), Jonathan Rees (editor), G. L. Steele
Jr. et. al. "Revised^4 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme." 1
Nov. 1991.
<http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6424/AIM-848b.pdf?sequence=2>.
[11] Abelson, Harold and Sussman, Gerald Jay with Sussman, Julie.
_Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition._
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press and New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html>.
[12] Abelson, Harold and Sussman, Gerald Jay with Sussman, Julie.
_Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition._
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press and New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-9.html#%_chap_1>.
[13] Abelson, Harold and Sussman, Gerald Jay with Sussman, Julie.
_Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition._
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press and New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-5.html#%_chap_Temp_2>.
--
Benjamin L. Russell / DekuDekuplex at Yahoo dot com
http://dekudekuplex.wordpress.com/
Translator/Interpreter / Mobile: +011 81 80-3603-6725
"Furuike ya, kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto."
-- Matsuo Basho^