

Using Gambit-C Scheme to Create Small, Efficient Native Applications - b-man
http://www.devx.com/opensource/Article/42778

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jlongster
I used Gambit Scheme to create a full 3d iPhone game called Farmageddon. It is
a very powerful Scheme system, with its focus on being very portable and low-
level. Because of this, it lacks certain features you might find in other
languages, like a module system and a large community.

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sigil
I really enjoyed your posts on scheme iOS development, and was saddened when
the Apple rejection came. Any further developments on that front? Are you
using scheme in anything else interesting these days?

By the way, I noticed there's a scheme interpreter in the app store called
iScheme. I guess it doesn't make API calls, so it's okay?

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jlongster
Thanks! I haven't used Scheme in a while because I got tired of focusing so
much on something without a big community. I want to get back into it though,
specifically with game development. Checkout <http://jlongster.com/> over the
next couple months and I'll start posting again.

Scheme is great but you should also involve yourself in a popular language
with a big/fun community so you don't burn out. Seeing different perspectives
is good anyway.

Looks like iScheme came out after they backed off of their only Objective-C/C
rule. So it should be fine, simply because it doesn't download any scripts. I
think that's the only restriction now.

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wbhart
This article looks a lot like a scheme tutorial to me. That is not to say that
it isn't interesting and written well. It's just not what's advertised.

Anyhow, for some things Scheme can produce efficient applications. However,
other things are extremely inefficient in Scheme. There's no way around the
fact that C is still much better at producing small, efficient, native apps.

It's much easier to get things going in Scheme. But then when you want to
finish off a project to a high standard, the language itself becomes the
limiting factor. The lack of optional typing, lack of native 32 and 64 bit
integers (for some things you really need all 64 bits), inefficient string
handling libraries (especially substrings), lack of standardised object
oriented stuff and standardised foreign function interface and a general lack
of available _efficient_ and full-functioned libraries all end up causing
frustration.

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FraaJad
The article is behind a registration wall. :(

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asclepiades
The Gambit Scheme wiki probably has most of what Hacker News readers want:
[http://dynamo.iro.umontreal.ca/~gambit/wiki/index.php/Main_P...](http://dynamo.iro.umontreal.ca/~gambit/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

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mark_l_watson
Cool, I wrote that article 18 months ago and I am glad to see it on HN.
Chichen Scheme and Racket may have a lot more batteries-included type
libraries available but Gambit-C with its custom Emacs support makes for a
really nice developer experience. The ability to generate small native apps is
great and it is a great tool. Marc Feeley also does a great job supporting it.

Since the article is 1 1/2 years old, you should check out the wiki
[http://dynamo.iro.umontreal.ca/~gambit/wiki/index.php/Main_P...](http://dynamo.iro.umontreal.ca/~gambit/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)
because only covered what I needed for my own projects in the article..

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pietrofmaggi
On OS X + homebrew[1] to install Gambit-C Scheme you just have to do:

    
    
      brew install gambit-scheme
    

[1] <http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/>

