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+##################
+Embedding Actinide
+##################
+
+Actinide is designed to be embedded into larger Python programs. It's possible
+to call into Actinide, either by providing code to be evaluated, or by
+obtaining builtin functions and procedures from Actinide and invoking them.
+
+The ``Session`` class is the basic building block of an Actinide integration.
+Creating a session creates a number of resources associated with Actinide
+evaluation: a symbol table for interning symbols, and an initial top-level
+environment to evaluate code in, pre-populated with the Actinide standard
+library.
+
+Executing Actinide programs in a session consists of two steps: reading the
+program in from a string or an input port, and evaluating the resulting forms.
+The following example illustrates a simple infinite loop:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ import actinide
+
+ session = actinide.Session()
+ program = session.read('''
+ (begin
+ ; define the factorial function
+ (define (factorial n)
+ (fact n 1))
+
+ ; define a tail-recursive factorial function
+ (define (fact n a)
+ (if (= n 1)
+ a
+ (fact (- n 1) (* n a))))
+
+ ; call them both
+ (factorial 100))
+ ''')
+
+ # Compute the factorial of 100
+ result = session.eval(program)
+
+As a shorthand for this common sequence of operations, the Session exposes a
+``run`` method:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ print(*session.run('(factorial 5)')) # prints "120"
+
+Callers can inject variables, including new builtin functions, into the initial
+environment using the ``bind``, ``bind_void``, ``bind_fn``, and
+``bind_builtin`` methods of the session.
+
+To bind a simple value, or to manually bind a wrapped builtin, call
+``session.bind``:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ session.bind('var', 5)
+ print(*session.run('var')) # prints "5"
+
+To bind a function whose return value should be ignored, call ``bind_void``.
+This will automatically determine the name to bind the function to:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ session.bind_void(print)
+ session.run('(print "Hello, world!")') # prints "Hello, world!" using Python's print fn
+
+To bind a function returning one value (most functions), call ``bind_fn``. This
+will automatically determine the name to bind to:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ def example():
+ return 5
+
+ session.bind_fn(example)
+ print(*session.run('(example)')) # prints "5"
+
+Finally, to bind a function returning a tuple of results, call
+``bind_builtin``. This will automatically determine the name to bind to:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ def pair():
+ return 1, 2
+
+ session.bind_builtin(pair)
+ print(*session.run('(pair)')) # prints "1 2"
+
+Actinide functions can return zero, one, or multiple values. As a result, the
+``result`` returned by ``session.eval`` is a tuple, with one value per result.
+
+Actinide can bind Python functions, as well as bound and unbound methods, and
+nearly any other kind of callable. Under the hood, Actinide uses a thin adapter
+layer to map Python return values to Actinide value lists. The ``bind_void``
+helper ultimately calls that module's ``wrap_void`` to wrap the function, and
+``bind_fn`` calls ``wrap_fn``. (Tuple-returning functions do not need to be
+wrapped.) If you prefer to manually bind functions using ``bind``, they must be
+wrapped appropriately. An equivalent set of methods, ``macro_bind``,
+``macro_bind_void``, ``macro_bind_fn``, and ``macro_bind_builtin`` bind values
+to entries in the top-level macro table, instead of the top-level environment,
+and allow extension of the language's syntax.
+
+Finally, Actinide can bind specially-crafted Python modules. If a module
+contains a top-level symbol named ``An`` (for the informal chemical symbol for
+the actinide series), it can be passed to the session's ``bind_module`` method.
+The symbol must be bound to an instance of the ``Registry`` class from the
+``actinide.builtin`` module:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ from actinide.builtin import Registry
+ An = Registry()
+
+ five = An.bind('five', 5)
+
+ @An.void
+ def python_print(*args):
+ print(*args)
+
+ @An.fn
+ def bitwise_and(a, b):
+ return a & b
+
+ @An.builtin
+ def two_values():
+ return 1, "Two"
+
+ # @An.macro_bind, @An.macro_void, @An.macro_fn, and @An.macro_builtin follow
+ # the same pattern.
+
+Going the other direction, values can be extracted from bindings in the session
+using the ``get`` method:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ session.run('(define x 8)')
+ print(session.get('x')) # prints "8"
+
+If the extracted value is a built-in function or an Actinide procedure, it can
+be invoked like a Python function. However, much like ``eval`` and ``run``,
+Actinide functions returne a tuple of results rather than a single value:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+ session.run('''
+ (begin
+ ; Set a variable
+ (define x 5)
+
+ ; Define a function that reads the variable
+ (define (get-x) x))
+ ''')
+
+ get_x = session.get('get-x')
+ print(*get_x()) # prints "5"
+
+This two-way binding mechanism makes it straightforward to define interfaces
+between Actinide and the target domain.