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* doc/ref/api-languages.texi: Move here from api-translation. Still stubbed in parts, but it's getting better. * doc/ref/Makefile.am: Adapt to api-languages.texi name change. * doc/ref/guile.texi: Likewise.
125 lines
4.3 KiB
Text
125 lines
4.3 KiB
Text
@c -*-texinfo-*-
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@c This is part of the GNU Guile Reference Manual.
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@c Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010
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@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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@c See the file guile.texi for copying conditions.
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@page
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@node Other Languages
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@section Support for Other Languages
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In addition to Scheme, a user may write a Guile program in an increasing
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number of other languages. Currently supported languages include Emacs
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Lisp and ECMAScript.
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Guile is still fundamentally a Scheme, but it tries to support a wide
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variety of language building-blocks, so that a user can implement other
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languages on top of Guile. This section describes the languages that
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have been implemented.
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(For details on how to implement a language, @xref{Compiling to the
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Virtual Machine}.)
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@menu
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* Using Other Languages:: How to use other languages.
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* Emacs Lisp:: The dialect of Lisp used in Emacs.
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* ECMAScript:: As seen on television.
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@end menu
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@node Using Other Languages
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@subsection Using Other Languages
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There are currently only two ways to access other languages from within
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Guile: at the REPL, and via @code{compile} or @code{compile-file}.
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The REPL is Guile's command prompt (@pxref{Using Guile Interactively}).
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The REPL has a concept of the ``current language'', which defaults to
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Scheme. The user may change that language, via the meta-command
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@code{,language}.
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For example, the following meta-command enables Emacs Lisp input:
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@example
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scheme@@(guile-user)> ,language elisp
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Happy hacking with Emacs Lisp! To switch back, type `,L scheme'.
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elisp@@(guile-user)> (eq 1 2)
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$1 = #nil
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@end example
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Each language has its short name: for example, @code{elisp}, for Elisp.
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The same short name may be used to compile source code programmatically,
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via @code{compile}:
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@example
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elisp@@(guile-user)> ,L scheme
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Happy hacking with Guile Scheme! To switch back, type `,L elisp'.
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scheme@@(guile-user)> (compile '(eq 1 2) #:from 'elisp)
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$2 = #nil
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@end example
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Granted, as the input to @code{compile} is a datum, this works best for
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Lispy languages, which have a straightforward datum representation.
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Other languages that need more parsing are better dealt with as strings.
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The easiest way to deal with syntax-heavy language is with files, via
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@code{compile-file} and friends. However it is possible to invoke a
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language's reader on a port, and then compile the resulting expression
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(which is a datum at that point). For more information,
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@xref{Compilation}.
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For more details on introspecting aspects of different languages,
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@xref{Compiler Tower}.
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@node Emacs Lisp
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@subsection Emacs Lisp
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Emacs Lisp (Elisp) is a dynamically-scoped Lisp dialect used in the
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Emacs editor. @xref{top,,Overview,elisp,Emacs Lisp}, for more
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information on Emacs Lisp.
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We hope that eventually Guile's implementation of Elisp will be good
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enough to replace Emacs' own implementation of Elisp. For that reason,
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we have thought long and hard about how to support the various features
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of Elisp in a performant and compatible manner.
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Readers familiar with Emacs Lisp might be curious about how exactly
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these various Elisp features are supported in Guile. The rest of this
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section focuses on addressing these concerns of the Elisp elect.
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@menu
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* Nil:: A third boolean.
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* Dynamic Binding:: Threadsafe bindings with fluids.
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* Other Elisp Features:: Miscellany.
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@end menu
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@node Nil
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@subsubsection Nil
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@node Dynamic Binding
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@subsubsection Dynamic Binding
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@node Other Elisp Features
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@subsubsection Other Elisp Features
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@node ECMAScript
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@subsection ECMAScript
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ECMAScript was not the first non-Schemey language implemented by Guile,
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but it was the first implemented for Guile's bytecode compiler. The goal
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was to support ECMAScript version 3.1, a relatively small language, but
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the implementor was completely irresponsible and got distracted by other
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things before finishing the standard library, and even some bits of the
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syntax. So, ECMAScript does deserve a mention in the manual, but it
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doesn't deserve an endorsement until its implementation is completed,
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perhaps by some more responsible hacker.
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In the meantime, the charitable user might investigate such invocations
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as @code{,L ecmascript} and @code{cat test-suite/tests/ecmascript.test}.
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@c Local Variables:
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@c TeX-master: "guile.texi"
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@c End:
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