{"slug": "chicken-scheme", "name": "Chicken Scheme", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.136, "rising": 3.0, "first": "2026-08-11", "latest": "2026-08-13", "why": "For learning SICP, I use Chicken 5 with 203 and 216 eggs plus the ~/.csirc and call it done.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "For learning SICP, I use Chicken 5 with 203 and 216 eggs plus the ~/.csirc and call it done.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://call-cc.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Chicken Scheme", "CHICKEN Scheme"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788576416, "item_id": 49286026, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49286026", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For learning SICP, I use Chicken 5 with 203 and 216 eggs plus the ~/.csirc and call it done.", "excerpt": "Sorry, I hit the nested comment limit. On MIT Scheme, it used to recommend some older version, specially the first edition, but on Chicken 5 with the SICP related SRFI's loaded and maybe scm-sicp you can hit an almost 100% compatibility. On differences, I already said that there's local library overlapping from the own subdialect implementations, such as Chicken Eggs and Guile ice-9 modules, but if you start them wit", "context": "", "use_case": "learning SICP", "switched_from": "", "story": "Chicken Scheme 6.0 Released"}, {"id": 788298369, "item_id": 49268648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49268648", "by": "brucehoult", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It helped immensely that both Gwydion Dylan and Chicken Scheme compile their respective niche languages to portable C code.", "excerpt": "In the distant past (2002-2003) I used two niche languages for the same programs across PowerPC, x86, SPARC, and PA-RISC: - Dylan - Scheme It helped immensely that both Gwydion Dylan and Chicken Scheme compile their respective niche languages to portable C code. Now emitting LLVM IR is an even slightly better technique. Except for PA-RISC. So GCC 15 (or HEAD) and C generation it is ... it's not bad using modern heade", "context": "", "use_case": "compiling Scheme to portable C", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you used LLMs to reinvigorate you niche programming community?"}, {"id": 788145856, "item_id": 49259116, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49259116", "by": "bigfishrunning", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really think in an alternate universe chicken scheme could fit into the python niche", "excerpt": "I guess you mean s7 -- I find s7 scheme fits into a lua shaped hole for scripting larger applications quite well without having to use lua (which is a personal preference). I used s7 scheme for scripting a C program years ago, and moved on to writing programs with chicken scheme. I really think in an alternate universe chicken scheme could fit into the python niche, because the eggs feel very \"batteries included\". Su", "context": "", "use_case": "writing programs", "switched_from": "s7", "story": "Chicken Scheme 6.0 Released"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "shakna", "context": "worked on a CPython extension project", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49264830", "date": "2026-08-11"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["learning sicp", "compiling scheme to portable c", "building cpython extension library", "writing programs"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49251702", "title": "Chicken Scheme 6.0 Released", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49259794", "title": "Ask HN: Have you used LLMs to reinvigorate you niche programming community?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 788576416, "item_id": 49286026, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49286026", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For learning SICP, I use Chicken 5 with 203 and 216 eggs plus the ~/.csirc and call it done.", "excerpt": "Sorry, I hit the nested comment limit. On MIT Scheme, it used to recommend some older version, specially the first edition, but on Chicken 5 with the SICP related SRFI's loaded and maybe scm-sicp you can hit an almost 100% compatibility. On differences, I already said that there's local library overlapping from the own subdialect implementations, such as Chicken Eggs and Guile ice-9 modules, but if you start them wit", "context": "", "use_case": "learning SICP", "switched_from": "", "story": "Chicken Scheme 6.0 Released"}, {"id": 788298369, "item_id": 49268648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49268648", "by": "brucehoult", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It helped immensely that both Gwydion Dylan and Chicken Scheme compile their respective niche languages to portable C code.", "excerpt": "In the distant past (2002-2003) I used two niche languages for the same programs across PowerPC, x86, SPARC, and PA-RISC: - Dylan - Scheme It helped immensely that both Gwydion Dylan and Chicken Scheme compile their respective niche languages to portable C code. Now emitting LLVM IR is an even slightly better technique. Except for PA-RISC. So GCC 15 (or HEAD) and C generation it is ... it's not bad using modern heade", "context": "", "use_case": "compiling Scheme to portable C", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you used LLMs to reinvigorate you niche programming community?"}, {"id": 788237280, "item_id": 49264830, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49264830", "by": "shakna", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "We used Chicken to build out our library to do some rather hacky things", "excerpt": "Just to run with the joke - one project I worked on was a CPython extension. We used Chicken to build out our library to do some rather hacky things and bring async/await to Python before it supported it. And we did call it basilisk.", "context": "worked on a CPython extension project", "use_case": "building CPython extension library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Chicken Scheme 6.0 Released"}, {"id": 788145856, "item_id": 49259116, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49259116", "by": "bigfishrunning", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really think in an alternate universe chicken scheme could fit into the python niche", "excerpt": "I guess you mean s7 -- I find s7 scheme fits into a lua shaped hole for scripting larger applications quite well without having to use lua (which is a personal preference). I used s7 scheme for scripting a C program years ago, and moved on to writing programs with chicken scheme. I really think in an alternate universe chicken scheme could fit into the python niche, because the eggs feel very \"batteries included\". Su", "context": "", "use_case": "writing programs", "switched_from": "s7", "story": "Chicken Scheme 6.0 Released"}]}