SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Currently, this software is distributed for:
 - Windows on Intel x86 machines (native IA32 backend)
 - Linux on Intel x86 machines (native IA32 and C backends)
 - Linux on little-endian ARMv7 machines (native ARM-32 backend)
 - Mac OS X (>= 10.4) on Intel x86 machines (native IA32 backend)

The current version of Larceny always runs in 32-bit mode, but the
native IA32 variety of Larceny is known to work on x86-64 hardware
provided the necessary 32-bit libraries are installed (see below).

A binary distribution of Larceny will occupy about 40 megabytes
of disk when unpacked.  A source distribution of Larceny will
expand to almost 200 megabytes as it is built.

"Petit Larceny" is used throughout Larceny's documentation to
refer to all varieties other than Common Larceny and the SPARC
and IA32 native backends [1].  (If you intend to use Common
Larceny, see the Common Larceny user's manual [2].)


WHAT YOU NEED

Native (IA32, ARM): everything should work out of the box.  If not,
you may need to install some 32-bit libraries or (on Windows) allow
Larceny to opt out of DEP.  See doc/HOWTO-INSTALL.

Petit Larceny (Linux, Mac OS X): ensure that the GNU C Compiler (gcc)
is in your execution path.  (If you are building from source, see
doc/HOWTO-BUILD.)

    Mac OS X: Use Apple's Developer Tools, http://developer.apple.com/

    Petit Larceny only:  After gcc is in your execution path,
    you should install the R7RS runtime and standard libraries
    by performing step 4 of the process described in doc/HOWTO-BUILD.


QUICK START

Solaris, Linux, and Mac OS X:
 - Run
   % ./larceny

Win32:
 - Run
   > larceny


EXECUTION MODES

    R5RS              traditional read/eval/print loop (the default)
    R6RS              see doc/HOWTO-R6RS
    R7RS              see doc/HOWTO-R7RS
    Scheme script     see doc/HOWTO-SCRIPT

The precompiled distributions of native Larceny should work
out of the box in all four modes, but the R6RS, R7RS, and
Scheme script modes will not work in Petit Larceny until
you have performed step 4 of the process described in
doc/HOWTO-BUILD.


COMPILING SCHEME SOURCE WITH LARCENY

Native versions of Larceny compile all definitions and most
expressions to machine code as they are typed or loaded.
Programs will load faster if precompiled; in Petit Larceny,
the precompiled programs will also run much faster.

To precompile files that contain R5RS Scheme code:

 - (compile-file <SOURCE> [<TARGET>])

   (compile-file "source.sch")
     compiles "source.sch", leaving the compiled code in "source.fasl"

   (compile-file "source.sch" "target.fasl")
     compiles "source.sch", leaving the compiled code in "target.fasl"

 - (load "target.fasl")
     loads the compiled code in "target.fasl"

To precompile R7RS/R6RS libraries, programs, and Scheme scripts,
use the compile-stale Scheme script that is in Larceny's root
directory.  Please see the Larceny User Manual [3] for details.


FURTHER READING

If you want to install Larceny for other users on your system, see
doc/HOWTO-INSTALL.  To build your own Larceny, take a look at
doc/HOWTO-BUILD.  To build Common Larceny, see the Common Larceny
documentation in doc/CommonLarceny/user-manual.txt.

Most importantly, see the Larceny user manual in doc/UserManual.
The most recent version of the user manual is autobuilt daily
and is online at http://larceny.ccs.neu.edu/doc/


NOTES

[1] You may be able to make Petit Larceny work on other platforms
(e.g. MacOSX/PowerPC or Linux/PowerPC with the C backend) but we do
not support those systems.

[2] http://larceny.ccs.neu.edu/doc/CommonLarceny/user-manual.html

[3] http://larceny.ccs.neu.edu/doc/
