[plt-scheme] Paren Paralysis Sufferers Unite

From: Neil Van Dyke (neil at neilvandyke.org)
Date: Fri Oct 16 16:04:20 EDT 2009

I don't recall offhand how SICP introduces syntax, but there's actually 
very little to remember about where the parentheses go in Scheme.  Once 
you know that a single set of parens denotes a procedure application, 
you're at least 50% of the way there.  It's easy to get if you read 
those sentences in a book and take them to heart, but difficult for 
someone who glances at Scheme examples and tries to code without doing 
some reading.  Then, after procedure application, there's just little 
bits of syntax extensions, which generally are logical, and you pick 
them up as you go.

If you're still having trouble after a person-day or so of using Scheme, 
remember that Clint Eastwood movie, in which he steals the Russian 
mind-controlled super-airplane, and he has to *think* in Russian before 
he can fly it.


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