Programming Languages as Operating Systems (or Revenge of the Son of the Lisp Machine)

The MrEd virtual machine serves both as the implementation platform for the DrScheme programming environment, and as the underlying Scheme engine for executing expressions and programs entered into DrScheme’s read-eval-print loop. We describe the key elements of the MrEd virtual machine for building a programming environment, and we step through the implementation of a miniature version of DrScheme in MrEd. More generally, we show how MrEd defines a high-level operating system for graphical programs. 1 MrEd: A Scheme Machine The DrScheme programming environment [10] provides students and programmers with a user-friendly environment for developing Scheme programs. To make programming accessible and attractive to novices, DrScheme provides a thoroughly graphical environment and runs under several major windowing systems (Windows, MacOS, and Unix/X). More than 60 universities and high schools currently employ DrScheme in their computing curriculum, and new schools adopt DrScheme every...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1999
• Where: ICFP
• Authors: Matthew Flatt, Robert Bruce Findler, Shriram Krishnamurthi, Matthias Felleisen
• Keywords: DrScheme, DrScheme Programming Environment, ICFP 1999, MrEd, Programming Languages