lisp v. scheme macros

[Shriram Krishnamurthi <sk@cs.brown.edu>]

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