[r6rs-discuss] Proposed features for small Scheme, part 1: a stake in the ground

[John Cowan]

Thomas Lord scripsit:

> > The procedure libraries of Scheme are still part of that ball of mud.
> 
> Libraries are not core.  It's quite fine to standardize both
> libraries and core.  The structure and function of the core
> is pretty profound so it serves humanity well to give it its
> own little description.  The conventional name for that description
> is "Scheme".

The word "libraries" was misleading.  I meant to refer to the various bags
of standard procedures required by all Scheme standards from R2RS onward.
There's nothing wrong with saying "car" is not part of core Scheme,
but if you mean that, you should say so plainly.

> I don't follow you there.  I don't have any sense of what you or Brian
> might mean to indicate in saying "Scheme is Pascal". 

You might want to ponder these Jargon File entries:

bondage-and-discipline language: n.

	A language (such as Pascal, Ada, APL, or Prolog) that, though
	ostensibly general-purpose, is designed so as to enforce an
	author's theory of "right programming" even though said theory
	is demonstrably inadequate for systems hacking or even vanilla
	general-purpose programming. Often abbreviated B&D; thus,
	one may speak of things "having the B&D nature". See Pascal;
	oppose languages of choice.

Pascal: n.

	An Algol-descended language designed by Niklaus Wirth on
	the CDC 6600 around 1967--68 as an instructional tool for
	elementary programming. This language, designed primarily to keep
	students from shooting themselves in the foot and thus extremely
	restrictive from a general-purpose-programming point of view,
	was later promoted as a general-purpose tool and, in fact,
	became the ancestor of a large family of languages including
	Modula-2 and Ada. [...]

	The hackish point of view on Pascal was probably best summed up by
	a devastating (and, in its deadpan way, screamingly funny) 1981
	paper by Brian Kernighan (of K&R fame) entitled "Why Pascal is
	Not My Favorite Programming Language", which was turned down by
	the technical journals but circulated widely via photocopies. It
	was eventually published in _Comparing and Assessing Programming
	Languages_, edited by Alan Feuer and Narain Gehani (Prentice-Hall,
	1984). [...]

	Its criticisms are still apposite to Pascal itself after many
	years of improvement and could also stand as an indictment of
	many other bondage-and-discipline languages. (The entire essay
	is available at http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/bwk-on-pascal.html .)

I recommend the essay.

-- 
John Cowan   http://ccil.org/~cowan    cowan at ccil.org
In might the Feanorians / that swore the unforgotten oath
brought war into Arvernien / with burning and with broken troth.
and Elwing from her fastness dim / then cast her in the waters wide,
but like a mew was swiftly borne, / uplifted o'er the roaring tide.
        --the Earendillinwe