Kawa 2.0 Supports Scheme R7RS

First time accepted submitter Per Bothner (19354) writes "Kawa is a general-purpose Scheme-based programming language that runs on the Java platform. It combines the strengths of dynamic scripting languages (less boiler-plate, fast and easy start-up, a REPL, no required compilation step) with the strengths of traditional compiled languages (fast execution, static error detection, modularity, zero-overhead Java platform integration).

Version 2.0 was just released with many new features. Most notably is (almost) complete support for the latest Scheme specification, R7RS, which was ratified in late 2013. This LWN article contains a brief introduction to Kawa and why it is worth a look."

Comments

Re:kawa

[Per Bothner]

The Kawa 0.1 interpreter from 1996 was written by Alex Milowski, who is indeed Polish-American.

I took it over in 1996, and re-wrote it as a compiler. At this point, I doubt any of Alex's code still exists. I'm Norwegian-American, and Kawa means nothing in Norwegian. Still, I saw no reason to change the name.

Re:R7RS?

[Trepidity]

Technically "The Revised Revised Revised Revised Revised Revised Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme".

Scheme was first specified in a 1975 report, which was revised in 1978. The 1978 report was called "The Revised Report on Scheme, A Dialect of Lisp". The next version of Scheme, in 1985, initiated the current trend, by naming itself, "The Revised Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme", or "R2RS" for short. Since then it functions as sort of a version number, so R3RS was the successor to R2RS, and so on. But from R3RS onward, nobody actually writes out the "Revised Revised..." part.