diff --git a/doc/ref/extend.texi b/doc/ref/extend.texi deleted file mode 100644 index 8e25ded2e..000000000 --- a/doc/ref/extend.texi +++ /dev/null @@ -1,50 +0,0 @@ -@c -*-texinfo-*- -@c This is part of the GNU Guile Reference Manual. -@c Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 -@c Free Software Foundation, Inc. -@c See the file guile.texi for copying conditions. - -@page -@node Libguile Intro -@chapter Using Guile as an Extension Language - -The chapters in this part of the manual explain how to use Guile as a -powerful application extension language. - -An important change for the 1.6.x series of Guile releases is that the -GH interface is now deprecated. For the reasoning behind this decision, -see @xref{GH deprecation}. The GH interface will continue to be -supported for the 1.6.x and 1.8.x release series, but will be dropped -thereafter, so developers are encouraged to switch progressively to the -scm interface. The last chapter in this part of the manual (@pxref{GH}) -documents both how to use GH and how to switch from GH to scm. - -The Guile developers believe that clarification of the GH vs. scm -debate, and the consequent deprecation of the GH interface, are in the -long term interests of the project. However it does create an -unfortunate situation for developers who want to start a project using -Guile and so read the manual to find out how to proceed. They will -discover that the GH interface, although quite well documented, is -deprecated, but that there is almost no adequate documentation for its -theoretical replacement, the scm interface. Moreover, the scm interface -still has the odd few rough edges which need smoothing down. - -Therefore, although deprecated, it is quite OK to continue to use the GH -interface if you feel uncomfortable with the `scm_' interface as it -stands today. By the time that support for GH is dropped, we plan to -have thoroughly documented the `scm_' interface, and to have enhanced it -such that conversion from GH to the `scm_' interface will be very -straightforward, and probably mostly automated. - -As far as documentation of the scm interface is concerned, the current -position is that it is a bit confused, but that the situation should -improve rapidly once the 1.6.0 release is out. The plan is to refocus -the bulk of Part II, currently ``Guile Scheme'', as the ``Guile API -Reference'' so that it covers both Scheme and C interfaces. (This makes -sense because almost all of Guile's primitive procedures on the Scheme -level --- e.g. @code{memq} --- are also available as C level primitives -in the scm interface --- e.g. @code{scm_memq}.) There will then remain -a certain amount of Scheme-specific (such as the ``Basic Ideas'' -chapter) and C-specific documentation (such as SMOB usage and -interaction with the garbage collector) to collect into corresponding -chapters.