Homework 0
An Introduction to Racket
Due: Thursday, January 22, at 12:30 PM
Introduction
In Session 1, I said that we will be using Racket both as an example and as our programming language of choice this semester. Your first reading assignment is to browse The Racket Guide online through the end of Section 2.2.6.
Browse these short opening sections of The Racket Guide:
- Chapter 1
- Section 2.1
- Section 2.2 through the end of 2.2.6
When you see "2.2.7 Anonymous Functions with lambda", stop. The reading gets a bit too deep for us starting there. We'll continue there later when we have more background.
Remember to stop there for now. We'll get to more advanced material soon enough.
Read the assignment now, then do the following assignment.
The Assignment
-
Write a three-sentence summary of Racket based
only on what you read in those sections of the guide.
Your sentences can answer these three questions:- What is Racket?
- What are its main features?
- What makes it different from the language(s) you know?
-
Write at least one question that you have about Racket
and the type of programming being done.
For this assignment, I want you to think about the language itself. Ask a question about one (or more) of these:- its syntax: the form of Racket code
- its semantics: how Racket code behaves when run
- its style: how Racket programs solve problems
For now, we are not especially interested in "meta"
questions about Racket's use in the world, such as,
Can we do web programming in Racket?
.
+
Let's focus on the language itself.
Deliverables
Either
- bring hard copy of your write-up to class next time
or
- email me your write-up before class begins next time.
You may write your answers by hand, if that works best for you. I am pretty good at reading handwriting. Please do be neat, though.
You may send email, if you prefer. If you do, please send either a plain text file or a PDF file.