diff --git a/lib/compiler/scope_analysis.ml b/lib/compiler/scope_analysis.ml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4c4484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/compiler/scope_analysis.ml
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+
+
+module SymbolTable = Map.Make(String);;
+
+let ( let* ) = Result.bind
+let traverse = Util.traverse
+
+(* literals are not modified. *)
+type literal = Core_ast.literal
+
+(* Note:
+   all symbol accesses are replaced with either a local or global access.
+   Local accesses a symbol in the local scope.
+   Global accesses a symbol in the global scope.
+
+   Lambda expressions are stripped of the symbol name of their single parameter.
+   This name is not needed at runtime, as all symbol accesses will be resolved
+   into an index into either the local scope linked list or the global symbol table.
+
+   Set is also split into its global and local versions, just like Var. 
+
+   The rest aren't modified at all.
+ *)
+type expression =
+  | Literal of literal
+  | Local of int
+  | Global of int
+  | Apply of expression * expression
+  | Lambda of expression
+  | If of expression * expression * expression
+  | SetLocal of int * expression
+  | SetGlobal of int * expression
+  | Begin of expression list
+
+
+(* extract all defined global symbols, given the top-level expressions
+   and definitions of a program
+
+   The returned table maps symbol names to unique integers, representing
+   an index into a global array where the values of all global symbols will
+   be kept at runtime.
+ *)
+let extract_globals (top : Core_ast.top_level list) =
+  let id_counter = (ref (-1)) in
+  let id () =
+    id_counter := !id_counter + 1; !id_counter in
+  let rec aux tbl = function
+    | [] -> tbl
+    | Core_ast.Define (sym, _) :: rest ->
+       aux (SymbolTable.add sym (id ()) tbl) rest
+    | Expr _ :: rest ->
+       aux tbl rest
+  in aux SymbolTable.empty top
+
+(* The current lexical scope is simply a linked list of entries,
+   and each symbol access will be resolved as an access to an index
+   in this linked list. The symbol names are erased before runtime.
+   During this analysis we keep the lexical scope as a linked list of
+   symbols, and we find the index by traversing this linked list.
+ *)
+
+let resolve_global tbl sym =
+  match SymbolTable.find_opt sym tbl with
+  | Some x -> Ok (Global x)
+  | None -> Error ("symbol " ^ sym ^ " is not defined!")
+
+let resolve_lexical tbl env sym =
+  let rec aux counter = function
+    | [] -> resolve_global tbl sym
+    | x :: _ when String.equal x sym -> Ok (Local counter)
+    | _ :: rest -> aux (counter + 1) rest
+  in aux 0 env
+
+let resolve_symbol tbl env sym =
+  resolve_lexical tbl env sym
+
+let resolve_set tbl env sym expr =
+  let* sym = resolve_symbol tbl env sym in
+  match sym with
+  | Local i -> Ok (SetLocal (i, expr))
+  | Global i -> Ok (SetGlobal (i, expr))
+  | _ -> Error "resolve_set: symbol resolution returned something invalid."
+
+let rec analyze tbl current = function
+  | Core_ast.Literal s -> Ok (Literal s)
+  | Var sym -> resolve_symbol tbl current sym
+  | Set (sym, expr) ->
+     let* inner = analyze tbl current expr in
+     resolve_set tbl current sym inner
+  | Lambda (s, body) -> analyze tbl (s :: current) body
+  | Apply (f, e) ->
+     let* f = analyze tbl current f in
+     let* e = analyze tbl current e in
+     Ok (Apply (f, e))
+  | If (test, pos, neg) ->
+     let* test = analyze tbl current test in
+     let* pos = analyze tbl current pos in
+     let* neg = analyze tbl current neg in
+     Ok (If (test, pos, neg))
+  | Begin el ->
+     let* body = traverse (analyze tbl current) el in
+     Ok (Begin body)