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5.1 Programs

A Scheme program consists of one or more import declarations followed by a sequence of expressions and definitions. Import declarations specify the libraries on which a program or library depends; a subset of the identifiers exported by the libraries are made available to the program. Expressions are described in Expressions. Definitions are either variable definitions, syntax definitions, or record-type definitions, all of which are explained in this chapter. They are valid in some, but not all, contexts where expressions are allowed, specifically at the outermost level of a ⟨program⟩ and at the beginning of a ⟨body⟩.

At the outermost level of a program, (begin ⟨expression or definition₁⟩ …) is equivalent to the sequence of expressions and definitions in the begin. Similarly, in a ⟨body⟩, (begin ⟨definition₁⟩ …) is equivalent to the sequence ⟨definition₁⟩ …. Macros can expand into such begin forms. For the formal definition, see Sequencing.

Import declarations and definitions cause bindings to be created in the global environment or modify the value of existing global bindings. The initial environment of a program is empty, so at least one import declaration is needed to introduce initial bindings.

Expressions occurring at the outermost level of a program do not create any bindings. They are executed in order when the program is invoked or loaded, and typically perform some kind of initialization.

Programs and libraries are typically stored in files, although in some implementations they can be entered interactively into a running Scheme system. Other paradigms are possible. Implementations which store libraries in files should document the mapping from the name of a library to its location in the file system.