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 17.4 A Choice of Programming Options
 ====================================
 
 The preceding arguments and example point to a model of Guile
 programming that is applicable in many cases.  According to this model,
 Guile programming involves a balance between C and Scheme programming,
 with the aim being to extract the greatest possible Scheme level benefit
 from the least amount of C level work.
 
    The C level work required in this model usually consists of packaging
 and exporting functions and application objects such that they can be
 seen and manipulated on the Scheme level.  To help with this, Guile's C
 language interface includes utility features that aim to make this kind
 of integration very easy for the application developer.  These features
 are documented later in this part of the manual: see REFFIXME.
 
    This model, though, is really just one of a range of possible
 programming options.  If all of the functionality that you need is
 available from Scheme, you could choose instead to write your whole
 application in Scheme (or one of the other high level languages that
 Guile supports through translation), and simply use Guile as an
 interpreter for Scheme.  (In the future, we hope that Guile will also be
 able to compile Scheme code, so lessening the performance gap between C
 and Scheme code.)  Or, at the other end of the C-Scheme scale, you
 could write the majority of your application in C, and only call out to
 Guile occasionally for specific actions such as reading a configuration
 file or executing a user-specified extension.  The choices boil down to
 two basic questions:
 
    * Which parts of the application do you write in C, and which in
      Scheme (or another high level translated language)?
 
    * How do you design the interface between the C and Scheme parts of
      your application?
 
    These are of course design questions, and the right design for any
 given application will always depend upon the particular requirements
 that you are trying to meet.  In the context of Guile, however, there
 are some generally applicable considerations that can help you when
 designing your answers.
 

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* Available Functionality     What functionality is already available?
* Basic Constraints           Functional and performance constraints.
* Style Choices               Your preferred programming style.
* Program Control             What controls program execution?
 
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