Using Gambit-C Scheme to Create Small, Efficient Native Applications

“I like working in high-level languages like Lisp and Ruby, but
finding one that produces the small native standalone applications
that I sometimes need to build is not easy. The two languages I
have found useful in the past are Scheme, a portable Lisp dialect
that is often used in computer science classes, and Haskell.
However, in the past year I discovered the Gambit-C Scheme system,
which I have used ever since to build my small native applications.
When combined with an effective Emacs-based development
environment, Gambit-C Scheme provides a high-level dynamic language
with good runtime and memory performance, as well as good
deployment options.

“In this article, I provide a quick introduction to Scheme and
cover the issues involved with using it to build native
applications on Linux and OS X (there is a Windows installer for
Gambit-C and my instructions should also get you going if you have
mingw installed). I conclude with two simple application examples:
extracting information from text files and writing a mini web
service that can support REST clients. Each application is
self-contained in a single executable file (click here to download
the source code).”

Complete
Story