TinyScheme would not exist if it wasn't for MiniScheme. I had just
written the HTTP server for Ovrimos SQL Server, and I was lamenting the
lack of a scripting language. Server-side Javascript would have been the
preferred solution, had there been a Javascript interpreter I could
lay my hands on. But there weren't. Perl would have been another solution,
but it was probably ten times bigger that the program it was supposed to
be embedded in. There would also be thorny licencing issues.
So, the obvious thing to do was find a trully small interpreter. Forth
was a language I had once quasi-implemented, but the difficulty of
handling dynamic data and the weirdness of the language put me off. I then
looked around for a LISP interpreter, the next thing I knew was easy to
implement. Alas, the LeLisp I knew from my days in UPMC (Universite Pierre
et Marie Curie) had given way to Common Lisp, a megalith of a language!
Then my search lead me to Scheme, a language I knew was very orthogonal
and clean. When I found Mini-Scheme, a single C file of some 2400 loc, I
fell in love with it! What if it lacked floating-point numbers and
strings! The rest, as they say, is history.
Below are the original credits. Don't email Akira KIDA, the address has
changed.
---------- Mini-Scheme Interpreter Version 0.85 ----------
coded by Atsushi Moriwaki (11/5/1989)
E-MAIL : moriwaki@kurims.kurims.kyoto-u.ac.jp
THIS SOFTWARE IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
------------------------------------
This software is completely free to copy, modify and/or re-distribute.
But I would appreciate it if you left my name on the code as the author.
This version has been modified by R.C. Secrist.
Mini-Scheme is now maintained by Akira KIDA.
This is a revised and modified version by Akira KIDA.
current version is 0.85k4 (15 May 1994)
Please send suggestions, bug reports and/or requests to:
<SDI00379@niftyserve.or.jp>
Features compared to MiniSCHEME
-------------------------------
All code is now reentrant. Interpreter state is held in a 'scheme'
struct, and many interpreters can coexist in the same program, possibly
in different threads. The user can specify user-defined memory allocation
primitives. (see "Programmer's Reference")
The reader is more consistent.
Strings, characters and flonums are supported. (see "Types")
Files being loaded can be nested up to some depth.
R5RS I/O is there, plus String Ports. (see "Scheme Reference","I/O")
Vectors exist.
As a standalone application, it supports command-line arguments.
(see "Standalone")
Running out of memory is now handled.
The user can add foreign functions in C. (see "Foreign Functions")
The code has been changed slightly, core functions have been moved
to the library, behavior has been aligned with R5RS etc.
Support has been added for user-defined error recovery.
(see "Error Handling")
Support has been added for modular programming.
(see "Colon Qualifiers - Packages")
To enable this, EVAL has changed internally, and can
now take two arguments, as per R5RS. Environments are supported.
(see "Colon Qualifiers - Packages")
Promises are now evaluated once only.
(macro (foo form) ...) is now equivalent to (macro foo (lambda(form) ...))
The reader can be extended using new #-expressions
(see "Reader extensions")