The Working Group for R7RS Large is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first draft specification for the R7RS Large Foundations, the Macrological Fascicle. <https://r7rs.org/large/fascicles/macro/1/>
Please also take note of another important announcement: The mailing list Scheme-Reports, where public discussion of R7RS has taken place so far (scheme-repo...@scheme-reports.org), has been re-established. The old subscriber list was lost when the previous mailing list went down. Even if you were previously subscribed to the mailing list, you will need to re-subscribe in order to take part in Scheme-Reports discussions! You can do this on the web here: <https://scheme-reports.simplelists.com/> This part of the specification describes the macro system of R7RS Large, which is a refinement of that of the R6RS. New features include syntax parameters (a means of defining seemingly unhygienic macros) and identifier properties (a way to add additional semantics to any bound identifier). Criticisms of the R6RS have been addressed by providing a procedural interface to syntax object destructuring besides the syntactic syntax-case form, and by reformulating the non-normative part of the hygiene model. In addition, new macro features from R7RS small have been incorporated. The working group welcomes public comments either on the (newly re-established) Scheme-Reports mailing list or in our issue tracker on Codeberg. Comments may address any aspect of the fascicle. All public comments are subject to the Code of Conduct established for the working group. <https://codeberg.org/scheme/r7rs/src/branch/main/CODEOFCONDUCT.txt> It is planned that six additional fascicles of comparable scope will follow over the next two years to define the core semantics of the R7RS Large language. The next fascicle will cover the familiar procedural programming forms such as lambda and the let family of syntactic forms. In addition, we intend to poll implementers and users of Scheme for their views on approaches to changes and additions to be made in R7RS Large. We look forward to hearing your views on this part of the specification. On behalf of the Working Group, Daphne Preston-Kendal Chair of Working Group 2 -- dpk (Daphne Preston-Kendal) ·· 12103 Berlin, Germany ·· http://dpk.io/ ‘I intend this but for a Scheme of a larger Design.’ — John Woodward, Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth