5.3.6

Getting Started with Racket

To get started with Racket, download it from the web page and install it. If you are a beginner or would like to use a graphical environment to run programs, run the DrRacket executable. Otherwise, the racket executable will run a command-line Read-Eval-Print-Loop (REPL).

On Windows, you can start DrRacket from the Racket entry in the Start menu. In Windows Vista or newer, you can just type DrRacket. You can also run it from its folder, which you can find in Program FilesRacketDrRacket.

On Mac OS X, double click on the DrRacket icon. It is probably in a Racket folder that you dragged into your Applications folder. If you want to use command-line tools, instead, Racket executables are in the "bin" directory of the Racket folder (and if you want to set your PATH environment variable, you’ll need to do that manually).

On Unix (including Linux), the drracket executable can be run directly from the command-line if it is in your path, which is probably the case if you chose a Unix-style distribution when installing. Otherwise, navigate to the directory where the Racket distribution is installed, and the drracket executable will be in the "bin" subdirectory.

If you are new to programming or if you have the patience to work through a textbook:

If you’re already a programmer and you’re in more of a hurry:

Of course, you should feel free to mix and match the above two tracks, since there is information in each that is not in the other.