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<br><div><div>On Aug 6, 2008, at 8:56 PM, Sam TH wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">However, I and probably many other PLT people would take issue with</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">the idea that there is a tension between the guiding principles of</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Scheme, as expressed in both the R5RS and R6RS and the design of PLT</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Scheme.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We strive to create powerful, extensible and flexible</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">language features, that we can combine do new things in new ways, and</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">to give programmers expressiveness as well as access to lots of</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">built-in features.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The greater complexity of everything since the</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">days when Steele and Sussman invented Scheme mean that PLT Scheme is</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">larger than those systems, but that's not a flaw.</font></p> </blockquote><br></div><div>To me, "piling feature upon feature" suggests a haphazard, poorly thought out process. I agree that there's a lot more to PLT Scheme than just, say, scheme/base, but I don't think it follows that it is not well designed. One interest of mine is using Scheme in practical applications (specifically, health information systems). I've thought about other functional languages, but find Scheme especially attractive. There are practical concerns of course, but I just find Scheme more elegant than, say, Common LISP. I've thought about languages like ML and Haskell, too, but haven't really found a compelling reason to switch to them -- even if I do like the fact that they are strongly typed. And let's face it: PLT Scheme has a strong, vibrant community behind it.</div><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><div>"It is never too late to become reasonable</div><div>and wise; but if the insight comes too late,</div><div>there is always more difficulty in starting </div><div>the change." -- Immanuel Kant</div><div><br></div><div><div><a href="http://www.gwoodhouse.com">http://www.gwoodhouse.com</a></div><div><a href="http://GregWoodhouse.ImageKind.com">http://GregWoodhouse.ImageKind.com</a></div><div><br></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span> </div><br></body></html>