Description #
Scheme is a minimalist, high-level dialect of Lisp designed for clean semantics and powerful functional programming. It emphasizes recursion, lexical scoping, and code-as-data principles.
History #
Scheme was created in 1975 by Gerald Jay Sussman and Guy L. Steele Jr. at MIT as an elegant alternative to the more complex Common Lisp. It was one of the first languages to support proper tail recursion and lexical closures.
Hello World Code #
(display "Hello, World!")
(newline)How to Run #
Option 1: Online
https://replit.com/languages/scheme
Option 2: Local
Install a Scheme interpreter such as Racket or GNU Guile:
sudo apt install guile-3.0Then run:
guile(display "Hello, World!") (newline)
Key Concepts #
- Functional programming with first-class functions
- Minimal syntax and lightweight core
- Homoiconic (code is data)
- Lexically scoped variables
- Tail-call optimization
- REPL-based development
- Recursion over iteration
- Macro support via
syntax-rulesor hygienic macros - Ideal for teaching programming concepts
- Numerous dialects: Racket, MIT Scheme, Chicken Scheme
Try It Online #
https://replit.com/languages/scheme
Fun Facts #
- Scheme is often used to teach programming and computational theory in CS courses.
- The classic Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) uses Scheme.
- Scheme’s minimal core allows powerful abstractions to be built from very few primitives.
Resources #
Racket (popular Scheme dialect)
MIT Scheme
Guile
SICP Online Book
