How to Scheme for 6.034

We will add detail to this page as we learn from you what needs to be clarified. If you have any problems, please let us know, so we can update the page to cover them.

The Online Tutor

When you write scheme code and evaluate it within the online tutor system, it will be evaluated on the server that runs a slightly different scheme interpreter, called SCM. As a result, it may not necessarily include every function in the MIT Scheme documentation or the Dr. Scheme documentation. But, all Schemes (and the on-line system) implement the Scheme standard, which is documented here.

Choices

In general, you have two choices: you can run Scheme locally on your machine, or directly on Athena. If you choose the former option, we strongly encourage you to use the most recent version of Scheme. Older or alternate versions (such as scheme for 6.001) may be incompatible.

Running MIT Scheme (on Intel x86 only)

If you have a PC or Intel Mac, the current version of MIT Scheme is 7.7.1 for Windows*, Mac OS X, Linux on x86, OS/2 and FreeBSD on x86. (There is no version for the Power PC (G4,G5) Macs). MIT Scheme includes Edwin, a version of Emacs, as you may remember from 6.001. For instructions on how to use MIT Scheme with 6.034, please see these instructions on obtaining and installing MIT Scheme for 6.034.

The key advantage of using MIT Scheme is that it has a real compiler and so code can run at reasonable speed. This is an important consideration when working on the projects.

Running DrScheme

We are now supporting Dr. Scheme on an experimental basis. DrScheme runs on all the platforms but it has a minimal compiler and, therefore, may be less appropriate for doing the projects. It does have a nice(r) user interface than MIT Scheme. If you have an older Mac, however, it is your only option; we recommend MIT Scheme for the other platforms. For instructions on how to use DrScheme with 6.034, please see these instructions on obtaining and installing DrScheme for 6.034.