Supported Operating Systems and Installation

Where can I get DrScheme and/or documentation?

From the Web:

http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/PLT/packages/drscheme/

How much does DrScheme cost?

DrScheme is absoultely free for anyone to use. However, there are restrictions on the way that DrScheme can modified and redistributed. Please read the GNU Library General Public License in the distribution for details.

What operating systems are supported for DrScheme?

Windows 95/NT, MacOS, and Unix with X Windows.

How much memory is needed to run DrScheme?

To run DrScheme comfortably, your machine should have at least 20 MB of RAM and at least 32 MB of total memory.

I don't have that much memory. Are there any other PLT options?

DrScheme Jr is a text-only version of DrScheme. It requires less memory and provdies the same language(s) as DrScheme (without the graphics library), but it does not provide a programming environment beyond the read-eval-print loop.

MrEd is the raw Scheme-and-graphics engine under DrScheme. MrEd can be used directly, and it provides a minimal GUI read-eval-print loop that requires less resources than DrScheme. MrEd's language is different from DrScheme's teaching languages, and error messages do not provide the location of the error in the source code.

MzScheme is the raw Scheme implementation under both MrEd and DrScheme. The language is the same as MrEd's (without the graphics library) and there is no environment, so the memory requirements are minimal (a few MB usually suffices).

These programs are all included in the standard DrScheme distribution. Smaller distributions for MrEd and MzScheme can be downloaded from

http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/PLT/packages/mred/

and

http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/PLT/packages/mzscheme/

Does DrScheme run under DOS or Windows 3.1?

No.

Does DrScheme Jr (PLT's text-only Scheme) run under DOS or Windows 3.1?

No.

I don't have a network connection. Can I obtain DrScheme on floppy disks?

Send two SASFDs (self-addressed stamped floppy disks) to

  DrScheme 
  Programming Languages 
  Rice University - MS 132 
  Houston, TX 77005-1892 
  USA 

Please indicate the desired operating system.

How do I install DrScheme?

Obtain a DrScheme distribution from the above address. For Windows, the distribution is an installer program; running this program installs DrScheme. For MacOS, the distributiton is a Stuffit archive; unpacking the archive installs DrScheme. For X Windows, the distribution is a tarred and gzipped file; unpacking the archive and running the installer script installs DrScheme. In all cases, detailed installation instructions are available when DrScheme is downloaded.

How large is the distribution archive?

An average archive is around 2.5 MB.

How much disk space does DrScheme consume?

Around 12 MB in its normal configuration, not including the optional documentation. Some disk space (about 5MB) can be saved by deleting all files with the suffix ``.zo''. DrScheme does not need the ``.zo'' files, but it starts up more slowly without them.