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Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/embedding.rst | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/intro.rst | 91 |
2 files changed, 95 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/embedding.rst b/docs/embedding.rst index 0bb9dcc..f07b0f6 100644 --- a/docs/embedding.rst +++ b/docs/embedding.rst @@ -159,3 +159,7 @@ Actinide functions returne a tuple of results rather than a single value: This two-way binding mechanism makes it straightforward to define interfaces between Actinide and the target domain. + +.. todo:: + + Document the full public API. diff --git a/docs/intro.rst b/docs/intro.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..190a1cf --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/intro.rst @@ -0,0 +1,91 @@ +######################## +Introduction to Actinide +######################## + +Notes from Slack: + +max: + may i give some unsolicited advice? + +owen: + No, because now I want it so it’s solicited advice instead. What’s up? + +max: + from what you have right now, it reads clearly like it was written by the + person who wrote the parser for the language + + i would suggest a lighter introduction focusing on: what is this language + similar to (lisp?), what are its key differences from that other language, + and a few examples of something in language A versus your language + + more or less, think about what you are looking for when visiting a new + project (language, library, framework, etc.): what's its purpose, what are + some simple ways i can do the thing, how is this different from other + similar projects + + i know it's not especially "technical writing", but IMO that kind of thing + helps users have a mental framework for reading the rest of the docs + +***************** +What is Actinide? +***************** + +* A programming language + * A lisp + * Heavily inspired by Scheme +* Differences from other languages: + * Uniform, minimal syntax + * No operators, only functions + * The language itself is extensible + * Functional language +* What's it for? + * Customizing other programs + +********** +Calculator +********** + +Concepts introduced: + +* Starting the REPL +* What is a REPL? +* Literal forms for numbers +* Built-in arithmetic forms (``+``, ``-``, ``*``, ``/``) +* Simple evaluation ("take the thing on the left, and do it to the rest of the list") + +************************ +Extending the calculator +************************ + +Concepts introduced: + +* Names, symbols, and environments +* Definition forms (define) +* Flow control forms (if, lambda) +* Recursion + +Fibbonaci example. + +************ +Fixing a bug +************ + +Concepts introduced: + +* *Tail* recursion and why it's special + +Redo fibboanci as a tail-recursive function. + +********************* +Thinking functionally +********************* + +Concepts introduced: + +* Higher-order functions and why they're important +* Reduce + +Redo fibbonaci as a fold. + +**** +Draw the rest of the owl |