Version: 5.1

Inside: Racket C API

Matthew Flatt

This manual describes Racket’s C interface, which allows the interpreter to be extended by a dynamically-loaded library, or embedded within an arbitrary C/C++ program. The manual assumes familiarity with Racket as described in Reference: Racket.

For an alternative way of dealing with foreign code, see FFI: Racket Foreign Interface, which describes the ffi/unsafe module for manipulating low-level libraries and structures purely through Racket code.

    1 Overview

      1.1 “Scheme” versus “Racket”

      1.2 CGC versus 3m

      1.3 Writing Racket Extensions

        1.3.1 CGC Extensions

        1.3.2 3m Extensions

        1.3.3 Declaring a Module in an Extension

      1.4 Embedding Racket into a Program

        1.4.1 CGC Embedding

        1.4.2 3m Embedding

      1.5 Racket and Threads

      1.6 Racket, Unicode, Characters, and Strings

      1.7 Integers

    2 Values and Types

      2.1 Standard Types

      2.2 Global Constants

      2.3 Strings

      2.4 Value Functions

    3 Memory Allocation

      3.1 Cooperating with 3m

        3.1.1 Tagged Objects

        3.1.2 Local Pointers

        3.1.3 Local Pointers and raco ctool --xform

        3.1.4 Guiding raco ctool --xform

      3.2 Memory Functions

    4 Namespaces and Modules

    5 Procedures

    6 Evaluation

      6.1 Top-level Evaluation Functions

      6.2 Tail Evaluation

      6.3 Multiple Values

      6.4 Evaluation Functions

    7 Exceptions and Escape Continuations

      7.1 Temporarily Catching Error Escapes

      7.2 Enabling and Disabling Breaks

      7.3 Exception Functions

    8 Threads

      8.1 Integration with Threads

      8.2 Allowing Thread Switches

      8.3 Blocking the Current Thread

      8.4 Threads in Embedded Racket with Event Loops

        8.4.1 Callbacks for Blocked Threads

      8.5 Sleeping by Embedded Racket

      8.6 Thread Functions

    9 Parameterizations

    10 Continuation Marks

    11 String Encodings

    12 Bignums, Rationals, and Complex Numbers

    13 Ports and the Filesystem

    14 Structures

    15 Security Guards

    16 Custodians

    17 Miscellaneous Utilities

    18 Flags and Hooks

    Index