LilyPond's Scheme¶
LilyPond uses Scheme as its extension language, OK. But it has to be noted that this is only half of the story, and in order not to get confused it's crucial to have a clear idea of what this actually means.
Why An Extension Language?¶
LilyPond adheres to the concept of compiling plain text input files. This makes it possible to include compiler instructions beyond the basic contents in the files, and these are written using an extension language. Programs could use arbitrary languages or even invent their own, but in LilyPond's case it was a natural choice to use Scheme, as it is the official extension language of GNU, GNU LilyPond's parenting organization and application framework.
LilyPond's internal architecture is also based heavily on Scheme, and as a consequence you can interact with LilyPond's internals the same way, as a developer working on LilyPond or a user writing input files. This makes the potentials of the extension language so incredibly powerful.
What Is Scheme?¶
Scheme is a programming language from the Lisp family of languages, which adhere to the paradigm of functional programming. This is very different from the concept of imperative programming which the majority of (non-professional) programmers is more familiar with and which is present in languages like Python, JavaScript or (Visual) BASIC, Java or the C family of languages. This makes getting in touch with Scheme challenging for many potential users.
Which Scheme?¶
It is important to note that Scheme is not (necessarily) Scheme, as there are many Scheme implementations around. In real life this means that when you search for “Scheme” solutions on the internet you have to expect results that may not be (completely) compatible with LilyPond. If you are not fully aware of that fact looking for help on the net can be quite off-putting.
The Scheme implementation used by LilyPond is the one included in Guile 1.8, which is the official application platform and extension language of the GNU operating and software system (please note that Guile 1.8 is not the current version of Guile, so even web searches for “Guile Scheme” may bring up incompatible results). Therefore the official resource for any questions is the GNU Guile Reference Manual, especially the API reference. But it has to be said that this documentation is suited rather as a reference if you are already experienced with Scheme.
Apart from this the only trustworthy resources for Scheme in LilyPond are the LilyPond manual, this book, tutorials on Scores of Beauty or the lilypond-user mailing list.
How To Use Scheme in LilyPond?¶
Learning to use Scheme in LilyPond causes challenges on three layers:
- learning the language,
- integrating Scheme code in LilyPond code, and
- (advanced) interaction with LilyPond internals through Scheme.
The following pages will flesh this out somewhat more detailed, while the rest of the book will provide an idea about the “look and feel” of writing Scheme in LilyPond. Selected language characteristics are introduced slowly and thoroughly, while at the same time discussing how Scheme code can painlessly be mixed with LilyPond input code. The higher mysteries of advanced interaction with LilyPond internals are deferred to a later bookpart.