A Zen for Scheme
In all life there must be balance. Python has The Zen of Python aka
import this
It is a powerful unifier that helps people graft libraries that feel pythonic. I try to write something in the same spirit (but not in the same form) for Scheme.
Birds Eye
- RR
- Remove limitations to Reduce the number of features you require,
but OM: Optimizability Matters. - FI
- Freedom for the Implementation and from the Implementation,
but CM: Community Matters: Join the Scheme you choose. - SL
- Mind the Small systems!
And the Large systems! - ES
- Errors should never pass silently,
unless speed is set higher than safety.1
On the Ground
- HA
- Hygiene reduces Anxiety,
except where it blocks your path. - PP
- Practicality beats Purity,
except where it leads you into a dead end. - 3P
- 3 Pillars of improvement:
Experimentation, Implementation, Standardization.
Submerged in Code
- WM
- Use the Weakest Method that gets the job done,
but know the stronger methods to employ them as needed. - RW
- Recursion Wins,
except where a loop-macro is better. - RM
- Readability matters,
but nesting works.
Footnotes:
1
Thanks for the error-handling principle goes to John Cowans Satire in the same form as Python.