The ideal programming language for beginners should offer the minimum barrier between thought processes and their concrete implementation as programs on the machine. It should not be a ‘toy’ language - its structure should be rich enough to express complex computer science concepts without being awkward. The language should encourage good coding habits and students should be able to look at it as an extension of the three things which they have already mastered to varying levels of proficiency - reading, writing and mathematics. Do we have such languages? Yes - the programming language Scheme fits in admirably.

DrScheme is a superbly designed programming environment for a family of implementations of the Scheme programming language. Combined with a great, freely available textbook, How To Design Programs which lays emphasis on the program design process rather than on finer algorithmic/syntactical details, DrScheme is bringing about a revolution in the way elementary computer programming is taught to school/college students. The objective of this article is to provide a quick introduction to the fascinating DrScheme environment as well as the Scheme programming language; it would be great if some of the teachers who might be reading this get sufficiently motivated to give DrScheme a try in their classes!

Linux Gazette

Note: They had me up to the point there are no modules.