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libscheme: Scheme as a C Library


Brent W. Benson Jr.
Harris Computer Systems
Brent.Benson@mail.csd.harris.com

Abstract

Because of its small size and simplicity, Scheme is often seen as an ideal extension or scripting language. While there are many Scheme implementations available, their interfaces are often complex and can get in the way of using the implementation as part of a larger software product. The libscheme library makes the Scheme language available as a C library. Its interface is through a single C header file and it is easily extended with new primitive procedures, new primitive types, and new syntax. It is portable to any system that has an ANSI C compiler and to which Hans Boehm's popular conservative garbage collector [1] has been ported. It has been used to build a variety of special purpose data manipulation tools, and as an extension language for an ethernet monitor.


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