RE: lisp v. scheme macros

["Will Fitzgerald" <fitzgerald@inetmi.com>]

Norvig's Paradigms book was written in 1992, and, rather than "snipe" about
Scheme, he has very nice things to say. Perhaps his comment on the lack of
Scheme macros is based on this in R3RS:

"Macros: Scheme does not have any standard facility for defining new kinds
of expressions."

His list of differences between Common Lisp and Scheme includes "Scheme, as
a standard, has no macros, although most implementations provide macros as
an extension," which didn't change in RnRS series until R5RS, right? (R4RS
provides macros in an appendix).

Norvig's Scheme implementation does provide a Common Lisp-like macro
facility.

I'm just trying to set the record straight: There has been a lot of sniping
between CL and Scheme communities, but Norvig (at least in PAIP) isn't
engaging in it.

Will Fitzgerald

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-plt-scheme@fast.cs.utah.edu
> [mailto:owner-plt-scheme@fast.cs.utah.edu]On Behalf Of Shriram
> Krishnamurthi
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 11:47 AM
> To: David Van Horn
> Cc: plt-scheme@fast.cs.utah.edu
> Subject: lisp v. scheme macros
>
>
> David,
>
> Scheme has for long had the most sophisticated macro system of any
> language.  Norvig's book is technically correct, but the hidden
> subtext is that this is the usual (unfortunate) sniping that goes on
> between the Lisp and Scheme communities.  The latest Scheme standard
> (R5RS) finally rectified this standardization problem by adding a
> formal macro system to the document, but historically, Scheme systems
> have offered slightly differing versions of the same macro system
> ("different" sometimes meaning "much more powerful" for nearly two
> decades now).  And indeed, many of the most important research on
> macro systems has come from the Scheme community.
>
> As for differences between Lisp and Scheme, this is a general and
> recurring topic on comp.lang.scheme.  Rather than asking the question
> again, you could just search for these threads on newsgroup archive
> sites, and you'll have enough to read for a few years to come.
>
> Shriram
>