In this episode I talk with Matthew Flatt about the history of Racket, different things he has worked on in Racket over the years, and a small glance forward at the near future of the Racket language.
Our Guest, Matthew Flatt
Sponsors
This episode is sponsored by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean makes it quick and easy to get up running with hosting your project. New users use the promo code GEEKERY to get $10 credit when signing up.
This episode is sponsored by PurelyFunctional.tv. The courses build good fundamentals and guide you to develop deep skills with the Clojure language and libraries. Listeners get a 25% discount by using the link purelyfunctional.tv/geekery.
Announcements
Code Mesh 2015 is going to take place on the 3rd and 4th of November, and listeners can use the code fngeekery10 to get 10% off when you register.
Chicago Erlang 2015 is coming up on the 10th of October, in the format of a two track, one day Erlang workshop. To find out more and to register visit www.chicagoerlang.com/.
CityCode Chicago will be taking place on the 9th of October. City Code Chicago is a one day immersive technology conference for programmers to spark creativity and innovation. To find out more and to register visit chicago.citycode.io.
ElixirConf 2015 is happening in Austin, TX on October 1st-3rd. Keynote speakers include past guests José Valim and Jessica Kerr, with over 28 speakers and over 200 guests. To check the schedule and register visit www.elixirconf.com/.
If you have a conference related to functional programming, contact me, and I will be happy to announce it.
Topics
About Matthew Flatt
Matthew’s intro to LISP
Teaching beginning programming in college
Origin of Racket
PLT Scheme/Dr Scheme
Structure and Intrepretation of Computer Programs
Multiple dialects in Racket
Arc variant
Dr. Racket
Evaluation model of functional programming
Focus on language design
Typed Racket
Adding types at the granularity of modules
Matthew on the Cognicast (Episode 61 and Episode 84)
Updating the macro system
Hygenic macros
Examples of macros generating macros
“You want to be able to look at an expression and say what it means”
Racket’s packaging system
Matthew’s plans going forward for working on Racket
Runtime support on multiple platforms
Growth of Racket over the past 20 years
pict3D
pollen for typesetting
Strange Loop 2015
RacketCon 2015
Format of RacketCon
Visibility into the usage of Racket in the community
Resources for starting in Racket
racket-lang.org
Racket Guide
Racket Reference
Racket Mailing list
Racket IRC channel
Racket Slack channel
Realm of Racket
Land of LISP
How to Design Programs
A giant Thank You to David Belcher for the logo design.