guile

brew install guile v3.0.11 LGPL-3.0-or-later

Scheme interpreter and compiler implementing R6RS/R7RS, with VM-based bytecode execution and C embedding API.

Why you might care

Guile is GNU's standard extension language, used to script and configure GNU tools (GnuCash, GIMP, Lilypond). Use it when you need a Lisp-dialect embedded language with mature FFI, or want a lightweight Scheme REPL for interactive development. It compiles to bytecode and includes a proper module system.

Alternatives

Lua Racket Chicken Scheme Emacs Lisp

4.5k

30-day installs · #646

11.9k

90-day · #739

75.2k

365-day · #512

Runtime dependencies

bdw-gc gmp libtool libunistring pkgconf readline

Build dependencies

gnu-sed

Caveats

Guile libraries can now be installed here:
    Source files: $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/share/guile/site/3.0
  Compiled files: $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/lib/guile/3.0/site-ccache
      Extensions: $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/lib/guile/3.0/extensions

Add the following to your .bashrc or equivalent:
  export GUILE_LOAD_PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/share/guile/site/3.0"
  export GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/lib/guile/3.0/site-ccache"
  export GUILE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS_PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/lib/guile/3.0/extensions"

Blurb generated by claude-haiku-4-5 on today.

Raw metadata

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