Guile is a library designed to help programmers create flexible - applications. Using guile in an application allows programmers to + applications. Using Guile in an application allows programmers to write plug-ins, or modules (there are many names, but the concept is essentially the same) and users to use them to have an application fit their needs. @@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ href="http://www.gimp.org">The GIMP.
Very popular examples of extending server applications are the - apache projects - perl and - php modules. + Apache projects + Perl and + PHP modules.
Extension languages allow users, programmers, and third-party developers to add features to a program without having to re-write @@ -37,44 +37,44 @@ -
Guile is an interpreter for the Scheme programming language, - packaged as a library which can be incorperated into your programs. - Your users have full access to the interpreter, so guile itself can + packaged as a library which can be incorporated into your programs. + Your users have full access to the interpreter, so Guile itself can be extended, based on the needs of the user. The result is a scripting language tailored to your application. -
Using guile with your program makes it more useable. Users don't +
Using Guile with your program makes it more usable. Users don't need to learn the plumbing of your application to customize it; they just - need to understand guile, and the access you've provided. They + need to understand Guile, and the access you've provided. They can easily trade and share features by downloading and creating - scripts, instead of trading complex patches, and recompiling their + scripts, instead of trading complex patches and recompiling their applications. They don't need to coordinate with you, or anyone else. - +
When you get to the point in your project where you need a scripting language or a configuration file format and reader, the normal - course of things isto say ``I'll just do something clean and simple.'' + course of things is to say ``I'll just do something clean and simple.'' This is a good decision. Adding a full programming language is just a distraction from your project. But simple languages don't seem capable of staying simple. For example, early releases of PHP, - a language for generating web pages dynamicly, enjoyed its minute memory footprint and - simplicitly. However over time PHP has grown, with the latest releases giving PHP + a language for generating web pages dynamically, enjoyed its minute memory footprint and + simplicity. However over time PHP has grown, with the latest releases giving PHP an object system and other features that have grown it to a much larger size. Compare Tcl from its 1988 origins with the modern, - sizeable language. Broadly, the same progression has occurred with + sizable language. Broadly, the same progression has occurred with Perl.
The point here is not to criticize these very successful and useful languages. @@ -85,13 +85,13 @@
Guile has the fundamentals you need; you simply specialize it for
your application. It has arrays and lists; modules; objects; and
first-class functions. It has garbage collection --- which
- makes using guile especially simple. Using Guile, your application
- begins full-featured scripting language, so you can focus your manpower on
+ makes using Guile especially simple. Using Guile, your application
+ has a full-featured scripting language right from the beginning, so you can focus your manpower on
the novel and attention-getting parts of your application.
-How do I get guile?
+How do I get Guile?
The latest release of Guile is available via anonymous FTP, at
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
Guile's ongoing development sources are
available, via anonymous
CVS and nightly
- snapshots, available via FTP. If you want to see guile being developed,
+ snapshots, available via FTP