This is the source code distribution for minimal Racket. For license
information, please see the file "COPYING_LESSER.txt".
Compiled binaries, documentation, and up-to-date information are
available at http://racket-lang.org/; pre-compiled nightly builds are
available at http://pre.racket-lang.org/installers/.
The Racket and GRacket source code should compile and execute on
Windows, Mac OS X, or any Unix/X platform (including Linux).
Per-platform instructions are below.
Please report bugs via one of the following:
- DrRacket's "submit bug report" menu (preferred)
- http://bugs.racket-lang.org/
- the mailing list (users@racket-lang.org) (last resort)
-PLT
racket@racket-lang.org
========================================================================
Compiling for Windows
========================================================================
To compile with Microsoft Visual C, read the instructions in
"racket\src\worksp\README".
To compile with MinGW tools, follow the Unix instructions below; do not
use `--enable-shared', because DLLs will be generated automatically.
The result is a Windows-style build. If you are using a variant of
MinGW without "libdelayimp.a", get the implementation of "delayimp.c"
from MinGW-w64 and compile it to "libdelayimp.a".
To compile with Cygwin tools, follow the Unix instructions below. The
result is a Unix-style build, not a Windows-style build (e.g.,
Racket's `system-type' procedure returns 'unix, not 'windows, and
`racket/gui' uses Gtk instead of Win32).
========================================================================
Compiling for Mac OS X
========================================================================
First, install developer command-line tools from Apple. As of this
writing, install by getting "Xcode" from the AppStore; then, in
Xcode's preferences window and in the "Downloads" panel, install
"Command Line Tools".
After installing developer tools, follow the Unix instructions below,
but note the following:
* The Racket build creates a framework, "Racket.framework", which is
installed into "racket/lib". This framework is used by the `racket'
executable that goes into "racket/bin".
* The GRacket build creates a GUI-executable variant of the Racket
executable. The GRacket build process also downloads (from github)
pre-built libraries for Cairo, Pango, etc.
* The `--enable-shared' flag for `configure' must not be used, because
builds create and use frameworks by default. Furthermore,
`--disable-shared' is not supported. (Unless you use
`--enable-xonx'...)
* To build an X11- and Gtk-based GRacket, run `configure' with the
`--enable-xonx' flag. Frameworks are not used for such builds, so
`--enable-shared' is allowed. The `--enable-xonx' flag also affects
the Racket build, so that `system-type' reports 'unix. Pre-built
libraries are not downloaded in this mode; you must have Cairo,
Pango, and GTk installed.
* To use `--prefix' without `--enable-xonx', you must also supply
`--enable-macprefix'. BEWARE! The directory structure for a
non-xonx build does not fit a typical Unix directory structure. For
example, frameworks are written directly to a "lib" subdirectory, and
executables like "GRacket.app" are written directly to the prefix
directory. (Requiring `--enable-macprefix' with `--prefix' for a
non-xonx build helps prevent accidental installation of a Mac-style
directory structure on top of an existing Unix-style directory
structure.)
* Under Mac OS X 10.6 and later, to build Racket in 32-bit mode,
use `--disable-mac64'.
========================================================================
Compiling for supported Unix variants (including Linux) or Cygwin/MinGW
========================================================================
Quick instructions:
From this directory (where the `configure' file is), run the following
commands:
mkdir build
cd build
../configure
make
make install
This will create an in-place installation of Racket and store the
results of C compilation in a separate "build" subdirectory, which
is useful if you need to update your sources, delete the build, and
start from scratch.
You can also run the typical `./configure && make && make install' if
you don't anticipate updating/rebuilding, but it will be harder to
restart from scratch should you need to.
Detailed instructions:
0. If you have an old Racket installation in the target directory,
remove it (unless you are using an "in-place" build from a
repository as described below).
To run `racket/draw' and `racket/gui' programs, you will need
Cairo, Pango, and GTk install. These libraries are not
distributed with Racket, and they are not needed for compilation,
except for building documentation that uses `racket/draw'. More
info about required libs is available at
http://docs.racket-lang.org/draw/libs.html and
http://docs.racket-lang.org/gui/libs.html.
The content of the "foreign" subdirectory may require GNU `make'
if no installed "libffi" is detected. If the build fails with
another variant of `make', please try using GNU `make'.
1. Select (or create) a build directory.
It's better to run the build in a directory other than the one
containing `configure', especially if you're getting sources via
git. A common way to start a git-based build is:
cd [here]
mkdir build
cd build
where "[here]" is the directory containing this `README' file and
the `configure' script. The git repository is configured to support
this convention by ignoring `build' in this directory.
A separate build directory is better in case the Makefile
organization changes, or in case the Makefiles lack some
dependencies. In those cases, when using a "build" subdirectory,
you can just delete and re-create "build" without mangling your
source tree.
2. From your build directory, run the script `configure' (which is in
the same directory as this README), with optional command-line
arguments `--prefix=TARGETDIR' or `--enable-shared' (or both).
For example, if you want to install into "/usr/local/racket" using
dynamic libraries, then run:
[here]configure --prefix=/usr/local/racket --enable-shared
Again, "[here]" is the directory path containing the `configure'
script. If you follow the convention of running from a "build"
subdirectory, "[here]" is just "../". If you build from the current
directory, "[here]" is possibly unnecessary, or possibly just "./",
depending on your shell and PATH setting.
If the `--prefix' flag is omitted, the binaries are built for an
in-place installation (i.e., the parent of the directory containing
this README will be used directly). Unless `--enable-shared' is
used, the "racket" directory can be moved later; most system
administrators would recommend that you use `--enable-shared', but
the Racket developers distribute binaries built without
`--enable-shared'.
The `configure' script generates the makefiles for building Racket
and/or GRacket. The current directory at the time `configure' is
run will be used as working space for building the executables
(independent of `--prefix'). This build directory does not have to
be in the source tree, even for an in-place build. It's ok to run
`configure' from its own directory (as in the first example above),
but it's better to pick a separate build directory that is otherwise
empty (as in the second example).
The `configure' script accepts many other flags that adjust the
build process. Run `configure --help' for more information. In
addition, a specific compiler can be selected through environment
variables. For example, to select the SGI compilers for Irix
instead of gcc, run configure as
env CC=cc CXX=CC [here]configure
To add an include path, be sure to use CPPFLAGS="-I..." instead
of CFLAGS="-I...". The CPPFLAGS variable controls C pre-processing,
which includes C compilation, and the Racket build normally uses
the C pre-processor directly for some parts of the build.
If you re-run `configure' after running `make', then products of the
`make' may be incorrect due to changes in the compiler command line.
To be safe, run `make clean' each time after running `configure'.
To be even safer, run `configure' in a fresh build directory every
time.
When building for multiple platforms or configurations out of the
same source directory, beware of cached `configure' information in
"config.cache". Avoid this problem entirely by using a separate
build directory (but the same source) for each platform or
configuration.
3. Run `make'. [As noted in step 0, this must be GNU `make'.]
With Cygwin, you may need to use `make --unix'.
Binaries and libraries are placed in subdirectories of the build
directory. For example, the `racket3m' binary appears in the
"racket" directory.
4. Run `make install'.
This step copies binaries and libraries into place within the target
installation. For example, the "racket" binary is copied into the
"bin" directory for an in-place build, or into the executable
directory for a --prefix build.
For a `--prefix' build, this step also creates a "config.rkt" module
in a "config" collection, so that various Racket tools and libraries
can find the installation directories. At this stage, in case you
are packaging an installation instead of installing directly, you
can redirect the installation by setting the "DESTDIR" environment
variable to an absolute path for the packaging area. For example,
`make DESTDIR=/tmp/racket-build install' places the installation
into "/tmp/racket-build" instead of the location originally
specified with `--prefix'. The resulting installation will not
work, however, until it is moved to the location originally
specified with `--prefix'.
Finally, the `make install' step compiles ".zo" bytecode files for
installed Racket source, generates launcher programs like
DrRacket, and builds documentation. Use `make plain-install' to
install without compiling ".zo" files, creating launchers, or
building documentation.
If the installation fails because the target directory cannot be
created, or because the target directory is not the one you want,
then you can try repeating step 4 after running `configure' again
with a new `--prefix' value. That is, sometimes it is not necessary
to repeat step 3 (so try it and find out). On other platforms and
configurations, it is necessary to start with a clean build
directory when changing the `--prefix' value, because the path gets
wired into shared objects.
If you build frequently from the git-based sources, beware that you
may accumulate user- and version-specific information in your
"add-ons" directory, which you can most easily find by evaluating
(find-system-path 'addon-dir)
in Racket. In addition, if you configure with `--enabled-shared',
you may accumulate many unused versions of the dynamic libraries in
your installation target.
After an "in-place" install without git, the "racket/src" directory is
no longer needed, and it can be safely deleted. Build information is
recorded in a "buildinfo" file in the installation.
For a build without `--prefix' (or with `--enable-origtree') and without
`--enable-shared', you can safely move the install tree, because all
file references within the installation are relative.
========================================================================
Cross-compiling
========================================================================
Cross-compilation requires at least two flags to `configure':
* `--host=OS', where OS is something like `i386-gnu-linux' to
indicate the target platform.
The `configure' script uses OS to find suitable compilation tools,
such as `OS-gcc' and `OS-strip'.
* `--enable-racket=RACKET', where RACKET is a path to a Racket
executable for the version being compiled that runs on the build
platform.
This flag is needed because building and installing Racket requires
running (an intermediate version of) Racket.
Some less commonly needed `configure' flags:
* `--enable-stackup', if the target platform's stack grows up.
* `--enable-bigendian', if target platform is big-endian.
========================================================================
Cross-compiling for Android
========================================================================
As an example of cross-compiling, to compile for Android on ARM using
the NDK, use (all on one line)
configure --host=arm-linux-androideabi
--enable-sysroot="[ndk]/platforms/android-[N]/arch-arm"
--enable-racket=racket
where [ndk] is the path to the installed NDK, [N] is a target version
of Android (such as 14), and
[ndk]/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-[comp]/prebuilt/[platform]/bin
is in your PATH (so that a suitable `gcc', `ar', etc., are found) for
the [comp] of your choice and the [platform] used to compile.
========================================================================
Cross-compiling for iOS
========================================================================
To compile the Racket runtime system as a Framework for iOS, use (all
on one line)
configure --host=[arch]-apple-darwin
--enable-ios="[sdk]"
--enable-racket=racket
where [arch] is one of
- armv7, armv7s, or aarch64: to run on iOS
- i386 or x86_64: to run on the simulator
The [sdk] argument is a path to an iOS SDK, but if it is "iPhoneOS" or
"iPhoneSimulator", then the corresponding SDK is located in the
standard place within the XCode application. For example, "iPhoneOS"
becomes the path (all on one line)
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/
iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS.sdk
========================================================================
CGC versus 3m
========================================================================
Racket and GRacket have two variants: CGC and 3m. The CGC variant is
older, and it cooperates more easily with extensions written in C. The
3m variant is the default: it is more robust and usually provides better
overall performance.
The default build mode creates 3m binaries only (except for a CGC
binary that is used to build the 3m binary). To create CGC binaries
in addition, run `make cgc' in addition to `make', or run `make both'.
To install both variants, use `make install-both' instead of just
`make install'. Alternately, use just `make cgc' and `make
install-cgc' to build and install just the CGC variants.
CGC variants are installed with a "cgc" suffix. To swap the default
build and install mode, supply `--enable-cgcdefault' to `configure'. In
that case, CGC variants are built by default, `make 3m' creates 3m
binaries, and `make install-both' installs CGC variants without a suffix
and 3m variants with a "3m" suffix.
========================================================================
Embedded Paths in the Executables
========================================================================
On all platforms, the Racket and GRacket binaries embed a path to the
main "collects" directory of library collections. This path can be
relative to the executable. Multiple paths can be provided, in which
case the first path is the main "collects" path, and additional paths
are placed before the main path (but after a user-specific "collects"
path) in the default collection path list.
The paths are embedded in the binary immediately after a special
"coLLECTs dIRECTORy:" tag. Each path must be NUL terminated, the entire
list of paths must end with an additional NUL terminator, and the
overall list must be less than 1024 bytes long.
As an alternative to editing an executable directly, the
`create-embedding-executable' procedure from `compiler/embed' can be
used to change the embedded path. For example, the following program
clones the Racket executable to "/tmp/mz" and changes the embedded path
in the clone to "/tmp/collects":
(require compiler/embed)
(create-embedding-executable "/tmp/mz" #:collects-path "/tmp/collects")
Similarly, `raco exe' mode accepts a `--collects' flag to set the
collection path in the generated executable.
Under Windows, executables also embed a path to DLLs. For more
information, see "worksp\README".
Paths to all other installation directories are found through the
"config.rkt" library of the "config" collection. Search the
documentation for "config search paths" for more information.
========================================================================
Porting to New Platforms
========================================================================
At a minimum, to port Racket to a new platform, edit "racket/sconfig.h"
to provide a platform-specific compilation information.
========================================================================
Additional Compilation Notes
========================================================================
CGC Build Options
-----------------
As noted above in "CGC versus 3m", Racket builds a CGC variant in the
process of creating the normal 3m variant. Within the CGC variant, two
implementations are possible.
By default, Racket CGC is implemented with SenoraGC (in the "sgc"
directory), which is relativey portable. Provide `--disable-sgc` to
instead use the Boehm GC (in the "gc" directory), which should perform
better and was the default for Racket CGC through version 6.1.
The variant of the Boehm GC that is included with Racket has been
modified slightly from Boehm's standard distribution; mostly, the
changes modify the way that object finalization is handled.
[Currently, the Windows build still uses the Boehm GC by default.]
Floating point, x87, SSE, Extflonums, and the JIT
-------------------------------------------------
Pre-processor tests in "sconfig.h" and "scheme.h" attempt to determine
when the x87 floating-point processor needs to be configured for
double-precision mode, when JIT can use SSE2 instructions, and when
extflonums can be supported because both the JIT and C code use SSE2
for double-precision floating-point while `long double' is available
for extflonums.
In particular, "scheme.h" looks for __SSE2_MATH__ to indicate that gcc
is compiling floating-point operations as SSE2, so be sure to include
flags like "-mfpmath=sse" or "-mfpmath=387" in CPPFLAGS, and not just
CFLAGS. See related configuration options below.
The Windows build using MSVC enables extflonum support through a
MinGW-compiled "longdouble.dll", since MSVC does not support `long
double' as extended-precision floating point.
Configuration Options
---------------------
Although `configure' flags control most options, some configurations
options can be modified by setting flags in "racket/sconfig.h".
Some CPP flags control default settings in "racket/sconfig.h":
* MZ_{USE_,NO_}JIT_SSE - {en,dis}ables use of SSE2 floating point
* MZ_USE_DETERMINSTIC_FUEL - disables use of itimer or pthread for
Racket thread scheduling.
* C_COMPILER_USES_SSE - declares that the C compiler is using SSE2
instructions to implement `double' floating-point operations.
Modifying Racket
----------------
If you modify Racket and change any primitive syntax or the collection
of built-in identifiers, be sure to turn off USE_COMPILED_STARTUP in
"schminc.h"; otherwise, Racket won't start. See "schminc.h" for
details.
