Interview with Chicken Scheme Maintainer Sjamaan/Peter Bex
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Interview with Chicken Scheme Maintainer Sjamaan/Peter Bex
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Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.
thenthenthen · · focus · HN ↗
weikju · · focus · HN ↗
bch · · focus · HN ↗
Long-running online handle - I fondly remember sjamaan from #netbsd on Freenode in “The Olden Days”.
matheusmoreira · · focus · HN ↗
> What do those Lisp books lack?
> it doesn’t go very deeply into e.g. garbage collection and data representation.
> I like to blog about cool techniques that are undiscussed nowadays.
> For example implementing weak references and how to GC them efficiently.
I had the same complaints about the books! They're always so high level. Stuff like garbage collection is simply taken for granted. In a real lisp, it's a core part of the virtual machine.
I too have taken up blogging in order to fill those gaps. Even slowed down development in order to let my knowledge crystalize so I can write coherently about it. I'm using AI a lot but I'm also trying pretty hard not to allow AIs to frontrun my own understanding here.
The blog posts about the chicken garbage collector and data representation are excellent. I really want to read about how continuations are compiled!
> Other stuff I rarely see discussed is how to do FFI and cross-module optimizations
Wingolog has a post about cross-module partial evaluation in guile.
<a href="https://www.wingolog.org/archives/2021/05/13/cross-module-inlining-in-guile" rel="nofollow">https://www.wingolog.org/archives/2021/05/13/cross-module-in...
The partial evaluator cannot penetrate foreign functions, which prevents optimizations. It's an argument against FFIs!
> The biggest positive I see right now is the push for digital sovereignty.
> I sincerely hope this will change how people deploy tech, maybe in a more mindful manner.
> But vested interests and inertia will be hard to overcome and really bum me out.
Always nice to find more people who care! If you find a way to avoid feeling bummed out, please share. Things only seem to get more difficult for us...
jrapdx3 · · focus · HN ↗
But I'm biased. I've used Chicken Scheme for a few years. For the most part, it's been a gratifying experience. For me, Chicken's easy to use and sensible FFI is big part of the reason. The language works for what I aim to achieve.
The Chicken community supports newcomers and old hands when they need it. Harsh responses to queries are rare. As online communities go, it's as good as it gets.