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I have just started to study computer sciences at my university where they teach us programming in Scheme.
Since I have learned C++ for the last 6 years, Scheme appears a little odd to me. My instructors tell me you can write any program you can write in C or Java with it.
Is anybody really using this language?
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Yes some people use Scheme for a living. For example there are occasional openings for Scheme programmers here in Montreal (http://theschemeway.blogspot.com/2009/03/scheme-job-openings-at-gamerizon.html).
Scheme Programming language is typically used to write to write text editing programs, analyse and optimise application-based compilers, write drivers for graphics cards, develop operating systems, and many more.
Scheme is a dialect of the Lisp family of programming languages. Scheme was created during the 1970s at the MIT AI Lab and released by its developers, Guy L. Steele and Gerald Jay Sussman, via a series of memos now known as the Lambda Papers.
Scheme is a multi-paradigm programming language. It is a dialect of Lisp which supports functional and procedural programming. It was developed by Guy L. Steele and Gerald Jay Sussman in the 1970s. Scheme was introduced to the academic world via a series of papers now referred to as Sussman and Steele's Lambda Papers.
Not a lot of people use it that I know, but it is definitely worth a peek (if even just to try programming in another paradigm, so that you learn to think differently). You're lucky to be able to take a class that uses Scheme, as most universities these days now teach Java. Here's a good link if you want to see some lectures from MIT or work on sample problems etc.
MIT Open Courseware - Structure and Interpretation Of Computer Programs
There's an accompanying book available on-line for free as well (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs).
UPDATE:
For those interested in a language that is similar to scheme that makes use of the JVM and can access Java libraries (since lots of universities use Java), check out Clojure. Maybe this will become the new language of choice for computer science introduction (we can all hope!).
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