dyb@unc.UUCP (Kent Dybvig) (02/04/85)
=> Chez Scheme
Chez Scheme is an implementation of Scheme for Vaxes
running 4.2 Bsd Unix. Chez Scheme supports all required and
most optional features of the anticipated Scheme standard.
The first Chez Scheme release will include an extensive
reference manual. A Chez Scheme tutorial is in preparation
for later releases.
Features of Scheme:
o Clean, concise dialect of Lisp
o Lexically scoped (as is Common Lisp)
o Full function closures (first-class, full funarg)
o Tail-recursion reliably translated into iteration
o Full upward/downward continuations
Features of Chez Scheme:
o Incremental native-code (Vax object code) compiler
o Flexible user interface
o Fast-loading compiled files
o Very fast arbitrary precision integer and rational
arithmetic
o Programmable exception handlers
o Support for multi-tasking (timer interrupts,
continuations)
o String and vector operations
o Macros and structures
o Engines (a process abstraction)
Application programs distributed with the first release
of Chez Scheme include a set operation package, a logic
programming subsystem, a lazy-cons facility, and a generic
matrix, vector and scalar multiplication package.
Faster than many Lisp systems, Chez Scheme may be the
fastest Scheme available. On the Vax 11/780, Chez Scheme is
competitive with benchmarks reported for Franz Lisp and
Digital Common Lisp at last summer's AAAI conference in
Austin, TX. For example, Chez Scheme runs the "Tak"
benchmark in 3.4 cpu seconds and the "Deriv" benchmark in
21.9 cpu seconds. The code tested contained no
declarations, used generic arithmetic, and had no inlined
calls. No separate compilation phase is necessary: all code
loaded into Chez Scheme is compiled incrementally.
Chez Scheme is available for mid-March distribution to
US educational institutions only. We will send a license
agreement to interested parties. There is a $400
distribution fee. We are not yet able to do foreign or
commercial distributions, but contact us if you are
interested.
Write for a copy of the license agreement and ordering
information to:
R. Kent Dybvig
Department of Computer Science
New West Hall (035-A)
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
USA
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