Impromptu (programming environment): Difference between revisions

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: ''This article is {{about |the programming language. For other uses, see [[||Impromptu (disambiguation)]].''}}

{{Infobox programming language

| name = Impromptu

| logo = [[File:Splash smaller.jpg]]

| caption =

| file_ext =

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| implementations =

| dialects =

| influenced by = {{hlist |[[Lisp programming language|Lisp]] |[[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]]}}

| influenced_by =

| influenced = [[Extempore (software)|Extempore]]

| operating_system = [[Mac OS X]]

| license =

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}}

'''Impromptu''' is a [[Mac OS X]] [[computer program|programming]] environment for [[live coding]]. Impromptu is built around the [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]] language, which is a member of the [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] family of languages. The source code of its core has been opened as the [[Extempore (software)|Extempore project]].<ref name="extempore_github" />

== Description ==

The environment allows to make changes to a program at [[run time (program lifecycle phase)|runtime]], so variables and functions may be redifinedredefined and the changes take effect immediately. A programmer can also create and schedule code for future execution, as well as data events such as notes and graphics objects. Once an event is scheduled, execution continues. Looping is performed by using an idiom called "temporal recursion" which works by having a function asynchronously schedule a future call to itself as its final action.

The library allows communicating with [[Audio Units]] for audio synthesis, and with graphics layers such as [[QuickTime]], [[Quartz (graphics layer)|Quartz]], [[Core Image]], [[OpenGL]] for [[video composition]]. Code written in [[Objective-C]] can be called from the editor, and also Objective-C frameworks can perform calls to the Scheme interpreter.

Impromptu's Scheme interpreter was initially built from the [[TinyScheme]] 1.35 baseline, but it has been substantially modified since to better suit the live coding context. A real-time [[garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collector]], and [[Objective-C]] integration were added. Also, a new statically typed language called the ''Extempore Language'' has been integrated to the system. This language is syntactically Scheme-like, but semantically closer to C, and is designed for real-time sound synthesis and other computationally heavy tasks. It provides [[type inference]] and is compiled to [[machine language]] by [[LLVM]].

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== Extempore ==

|The accessdatecore =of 2011-06-12}}</ref>Impromptu has been released as [[Extempore (software)|Extempore]] under a BSD style licence. It runs under both [[Linux]] and Mac OS X. The project is as of June 2011 at an early stage and is intended as a developer preview, not suited for end users. It includes the Scheme interpreter, the Extempore Language compiler and the scheduler. The bindings to [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] libraries are absent, but the environment can interface with dynamic libraries.<ref name="extempore_github" />

The core of Impromptu has been released as ''Extempore''<ref name="extempore_github">{{cite web

| url = https://github.com/digego/extempore

| title = The ''Extempore'' page on GitHub.

| date = 2011-06-12

| accessdate = 2011-06-12}}</ref> under a BSD style licence. It runs under both [[Linux]] and Mac OS X. The project is as of June 2011 at an early stage and is intended as a developer preview, not suited for end users. It includes the Scheme interpreter, the Extempore Language compiler and the scheduler. The bindings to [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] libraries are absent, but the environment can interface with dynamic libraries.<ref name="extempore_github" />

==External links==

* {{Official website|impromptu.moso.com.au}}

* http://improgramming.wordpress.com/ - a blog about Impromptu by [http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/thm21/ Thor Magnusson]

* http://vimeo.com/impromptu/videos/sort:plays - Live performances by Andrew Sorensen.

==See also==

* [[Csound]]
*[[Comparison of audio synthesis environments]]

* [[SuperCollider]]

* [[Processing (programming language)]]

* [[OpenFrameworks]]

* [[NodeBox]]

* [[ChucK]]

* [[jMaxList of music software]]

* [[Max (software)]]

* [[Pure Data]]

* [[TinyScheme]]

== References ==

<references />

=== Academic papers ===

* Sorensen, A (2010) "[http://impromptu.moso.com.au/extras/icmc2010.pdf A Distributed Memory For Networked Livecoding Performance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226081451/http://impromptu.moso.com.au/extras/icmc2010.pdf |date=2021-02-26 }}" International Computer Music Conference 2010, New York

* Sorensen, A & Brown, A (2008) "[http://impromptu.moso.com.au/extras/acmc08_orchestral.pdf A Computational Model For The Generation Of Orchestral Music In The Germanic Symphonic Tradition: A progress report]" paper presented to the Australasian Computer Music Conference 2008, Sydney

* Sorensen, A & Brown, A (2007) "[http://impromptu.moso.com.au/extras/aa-cell-icmc07.pdf aa-cell in Practice: An Approach to Musical Live Coding]" paper presented to the International Computer Music Conference 2007, Copenhagen

* Sorensen, A. (2005) "[http://impromptu.moso.com.au/extras/sorensen_acmc_05.pdf Impromptu: An interactive programming environment for composition and performance]" a paper presented to the Australasian Computer Music Conference 2005, Brisbane: ACMA, pp. &nbsp;149–153. (Note: Impromptu version discussed is obsolete)

* Sorensen, A. "[http://impromptu.moso.com.au/extras/ICR.html ICR - Impromptu Compiler Runtime]"

* Thor Magnusson, "[http://eprints.brighton.ac.uk/10110/ Confessions of a Live Coder]", Proceedings of International Computer Music Conference, 2011.{{Verify source|date=June 2011}}

=== Other sources ===

* Peter Kirn, "[http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/07/thought-and-performance-live-coding-music-explained-to-anyone-really/ Thought and Performance, Live Coding Music, Explained to Anyone - Really]", Create Digital Music, 2011

* Mitchell Whitelaw, "[httphttps://teemingvoid.blogspot.com/2007/12/from-scratch-conversation-with-andrew.html From Scratch - A Conversation with Andrew Sorensen]", 2007

==External links==

* {{Official website|impromptu.moso.com.au}}

[[Category:Audio programming languages]]

[[Category:Live coding]]

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]