[racket] syntax, differently

On Aug 1, 2010, at 12:34 AM, Mathew Kurian wrote:

1. Your comments are appreciated. Thank you. 

2.

> Because some of the code can get very long (unlike some other languages),

What do you mean with that? When I have students write large programs, my Racket programs are routinely a factor of 3 or more shorter than those of the best of my students (5Kloc in Racket vs 15Kloc in Java or C# or C++), tend to perform more tasks, and are more stable. 

> it is important for students to be able to keep the code very neat,

That is true in all languages, period. 

3. 

> Since drracket ... compiles one line after another, ...

DrRacket does not compile line by line. Indeed, lines have nothing to do with compilation. Please take  a look at HtDP's extended exercises on interpreting Scheme. That'll give you an idea of what compilation is and why lines are irrelevant. 

-- Matthias