Arc Makes Programs Shorter
Businessman and Lisp enthusiast Paul Graham presented the initial version of the Arc programming language. Graham points in particular to the brevity of Arc source code and has launched a programming language competition.
The release announcement describes Arc as a new dialect of Lisp which is still not complete, but usable. Currently Arc compiles source code with MzScheme, another member of the Lisp family, from which Arc borrows numeric and mathematical operations.
Graham sees Arc as a language for practically-oriented programmers who enjoy experimenting and need more freedom in program design. He refers to the language as "non-bureaucratic".
Above all, the language impresses with short source code files and parsing trees. After all, this is the whole point of a high-level language Paul Graham emphasizes. To add practical relevance to this, Graham is organizing a programming competition in the Arc Forum. The tasks describes a website that processes a simple form. Grahams Arc code for the complete application looks like this:
(defop said req (aform [w/link (pr "you said: " (arg _ "foo")) (pr "click here")] (input "foo") (submit)))
The Arc Challenge for fans of other programming languages is to create shorter source code for the program.
The Arc homepage has an installation guide and a short introduction to Arc programming, which does not assume prior knowledge of Lisp. Arc is licensed under the Perl Foundation's Artistic License 2.0.
Related content
-
Highlight Learns F#
The new version of Highlight, the software that highlights numerous program codes in color, supports amongst other languages, F#.
-
Conceptual 1.0 with GUI and Eclipse Plug-in
The Conceptual domain-specific language generates programs that measure the performance and test the correctness of networks and their protocol layers. The newest version 1.0 of the product provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate generating these programs.
-
Log for C++ Reaches Version 1.0
Version 1.0 of Log for C++, a class library with numerous logging functions has just been released.
-
Berkeley DB for C# and STL
The embeddable database Berkeley DB is available in version 4.8.26 with new APIs.
-
Video: Programming with the Python Django web framework
In response to a challenge to programming language developers set by the editors of Linux Magazine, Python Django returned with a solution that is now available as a video workshop.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.