View source for Stalin (Scheme implementation)

{{Short description|Scheme programming language}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Independent sources|date=March 2025}}
{{No footnotes|date=December 2021}}
}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name = Stalin
| logo = <!-- Filename only -->
| logo caption =
| screenshot = <!-- Filename only -->
| screenshot caption =
| paradigms = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|Multi-paradigm]]: [[Functional programming|functional]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]], [[Metaprogramming|meta]]
| family = [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]]
| designer = Jeffrey Mark Siskind
| developer = Jeffrey Mark Siskind
| released = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes}} -->
| latest release version = 0.11
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2006|10|02}}
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes}} -->
| typing = [[Dynamic typing|Dynamic]], [[Latent typing|latent]], [[Strong typing|strong]]
| scope = [[Scope (computer science)#Lexical scoping and dynamic scoping|Lexical]]
| programming language =
| platform = [[IA-32]], [[x86-64]]
| operating system = [[Cross-platform]]
| license = [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]
| file ext =
| file format = <!-- or: | file formats = -->
| website = {{URL|engineering.purdue.edu/~qobi/software}}
| implementations =
| dialects =
| influenced by = [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]], [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]]
| influenced =
}}

In computing, '''Stalin''' ('''STAtic Language ImplementatioN''') is a [[programming language]], an aggressive [[Optimizing compiler|optimizing]] batch [[Interprocedural optimization|whole-program]] [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]] [[compiler]] written by Jeffrey Mark Siskind. It uses advanced data [[Data-flow analysis|flow analysis]] and [[type inference]] and a variety of other optimization methods to produce code. Stalin is intended for production use in generating an optimized [[executable]].

The compiler runs slowly, with little or no support for [[debugging]] or other niceties. Full [[R4RS]] Scheme is supported, with a few minor and rarely encountered omissions. Interfacing to external C libraries is straightforward. The compiler does [[Object lifetime|lifetime]] analysis and hence does not generate as much [[Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage]] as might be expected, but global reclamation of storage is done using the [[Boehm garbage collector]].

The name is a joke: "[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] brutally optimizes."

Stalin is [[free and open-source software]], licensed under a [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL), and is available online.

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Chicken (Scheme implementation)]]
* [[Gambit (Scheme implementation)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Official website|engineering.purdue.edu/~qobi/software}}
<!-- has no files as of 2012 *[http://sourceforge.net/projects/stalin A sourceforge project] - might be more updated than Siskind's version -->
*[http://code.google.com/archive/p/stalingui/ A Google Code project] – includes a Windows version and a GUI
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170706015402/ftp://ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/qobi/research-statement.pdf Research Statement by Siskind] (compares Stalin with other Scheme compilers, and states that "STALIN often generates code that outperforms handwritten C and Fortran code.")
*[https://engineering.purdue.edu/~qobi/papers/fdlcc.pdf Flow-Directed Lightweight Closure Conversion] by Siskind (presents a lightweight closure-conversion method that is driven by the results of whole-program interprocedural flow, reachability, points-to, and escape analyses, used in the Stalin compiler)

{{Lisp programming language}}

[[Category:Scheme (programming language) compilers]]
[[Category:Scheme (programming language) implementations]]
[[Category:Free and open source compilers]]


{{Free-software-stub}}
{{Prog-lang-stub}}