diff --git a/coerce.rkt b/coerce.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35134a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/coerce.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require racket/contract net/url xml racket/set)
+(module+ test (require rackunit))
+(require "len.rkt")
+
+(provide ->int ->string ->list ->boolean ->symbol)
+
+;; general way of coercing to integer
+(define/contract (->int x)
+  (any/c . -> . integer?)
+  (cond
+    [(integer? x) x]
+    [(real? x) (floor x)]
+    [(and (string? x) (> (len x) 0)) (->int (string->number x))]
+    [(symbol? x) (->int (->string x))]
+    [(char? x) (char->integer x)]
+    [else (or (len x) (error "Can't convert to integer:" x))])) ; try len before giving up
+
+
+;; general way of coercing to string
+(define/contract (->string x)
+  (any/c . -> . string?)
+  (cond 
+    [(string? x) x]
+    [(equal? '() x) ""]
+    [(symbol? x) (symbol->string x)]
+    [(number? x) (number->string x)]
+    [(url? x) (->string (->path x))] ; todo: a url is more than just a path-string ... it has character encoding issues
+    [(path? x) (path->string x)]
+    [(char? x) (format "~a" x)]
+    [(xexpr? x) (xexpr->string x)] ; put this last so other xexprish things don't get caught
+    [else (error (format "Can't make ~a into string" x))]))
+
+
+;; general way of coercing to symbol
+(define (->symbol thing)
+  ; todo: on bad input, it will pop a string error rather than symbol error
+  (string->symbol (->string thing))) 
+
+;; general way of coercing to path
+(define/contract (->path thing)
+  (any/c . -> . path?)
+  ; todo: on bad input, it will pop a string error rather than path error
+  (cond 
+    [(url? thing) (apply build-path (map path/param-path (url-path thing)))]
+    [else (string->path (->string thing))]))
+
+
+;; general way of coercing to url
+(define/contract (->url thing)
+  (any/c . -> . url?)
+  ; todo: on bad input, it will pop a string error rather than url error
+  (string->url (->string thing)))
+
+(define (->complete-path thing)
+  (path->complete-path (->path thing)))
+
+
+;; general way of coercing to a list
+(define/contract (->list x)
+  (any/c . -> . list?)
+  (cond 
+    [(list? x) x]
+    [(vector? x) (vector->list x)]
+    [(set? x) (set->list x)]
+    [else (list x)])) 
+
+
+
+;; general way of coercing to vector
+(define (->vector x)
+  (any/c . -> . vector?)
+  ; todo: on bad input, it will pop a list error rather than vector error
+  (cond
+    [(vector? x) x]
+    [else (list->vector (->list x))]))
+
+
+
+;; general way of coercing to boolean
+(define/contract (->boolean x)
+  (any/c . -> . boolean?)
+  ;; in Racket, everything but #f is true
+  (if x #t #f))
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/container.rkt b/container.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..788908f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/container.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require racket/contract racket/vector racket/list)
+(require "coerce.rkt" "len.rkt")
+
+(provide get in?)
+
+
+(define/contract (sliceable-container? x)
+  (any/c . -> . boolean?)
+  (ormap (λ(proc) (proc x)) (list list? string? symbol? vector?)))
+
+(define/contract (gettable-container? x)
+  (any/c . -> . boolean?)
+  (ormap (λ(proc) (proc x)) (list sliceable-container? hash?))) 
+
+
+
+;; general way of fetching an item from a container
+(define/contract (get container start [end #f])
+  ((gettable-container? any/c) ((λ(i)(or (integer? i) (and (symbol? i) (equal? i 'end))))) 
+                               . ->* . any/c)
+  
+  (set! end
+        (if (sliceable-container? container)
+            (cond 
+              ;; treat negative lengths as offset from end (Python style)
+              [(and (integer? end) (< end 0)) (+ (len container) end)]
+              ;; 'end slices to the end
+              [(equal? end 'end) (len container)]
+              ;; default to slice length of 1 (i.e, single-item retrieval)
+              [(equal? end #f) (add1 start)]
+              [else end])
+            end))
+  
+  (define result (cond
+                   ;; for sliceable containers, make a slice
+                   [(list? container) (for/list ([i (range start end)]) 
+                                        (list-ref container i))]
+                   [(vector? container) (for/vector ([i (range start end)])
+                                          (vector-ref container i))] 
+                   [(string? container) (substring container start end)]
+                   [(symbol? container) (->symbol (get (->string container) start end))] 
+                   ;; for hash, just get item
+                   [(hash? container) (hash-ref container start)]
+                   [else #f]))
+  
+  ;; don't return single-item results inside a list
+  (if (and (sliceable-container? container) (= (len result) 1))
+      (car (->list result))
+      result))
+
+
+
+
+;; general way of testing for membership (à la Python 'in')
+;; put item as first arg so function can use infix notation
+;; (item . in . container)
+(define/contract (in? item container)
+  (any/c any/c . -> . boolean?)
+  (->boolean (cond
+               [(list? container) (member item container)] ; returns #f or sublist beginning with item
+               [(vector? container) (vector-member item container)] ; returns #f or zero-based item index
+               [(hash? container) 
+                (and (hash-has-key? container item) (get container item))] ; returns #f or hash value
+               [(string? container) ((->string item) . in? . (map ->string (string->list container)))] ; returns #f or substring beginning with item
+               [(symbol? container) ((->string item) . in? . (->string container))] ; returns #f or subsymbol (?!) beginning with item
+               [else #f])))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/debug.rkt b/debug.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c4e226
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debug.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#lang racket/base
+
+(provide report describe)
+
+; report the current value of the variable, then return it
+(define-syntax-rule (report var)
+  (begin 
+    (basic-message 'var "=" var) 
+    var))
+
+
+(require (prefix-in williams: (planet williams/describe/describe)))
+
+(define (describe x)
+  (parameterize ([current-output-port (current-error-port)])
+    (williams:describe x))
+  x)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/info.rkt b/info.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e503bab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/info.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#lang info
+(define collection "sugar")
+(define scribblings '(("scribblings/sugar.scrbl" ())))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/len.rkt b/len.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12aa54b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/len.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require racket/contract racket/set)
+
+(provide len)
+
+(define/contract (has-length? x)
+  (any/c . -> . boolean?)
+  (ormap (λ(proc) (proc x)) (list list? string? symbol? vector? hash? set?)))
+
+;; general way of asking for length
+(define/contract (len x)
+  (any/c . -> . (or/c integer? #f))
+  (cond
+    [(list? x) (length x)]
+    [(string? x) (string-length x)]
+    [(symbol? x) (len (symbol->string x))]
+    [(vector? x) (len (vector->list x))]
+    [(hash? x) (len (hash-keys x))]
+    [(set? x) (len (set->list x))]
+    [(integer? x) (len (number->string x))]
+    [else #f]))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/list.rkt b/list.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e08e45e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/list.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require racket/contract racket/list)
+
+(provide trim splitf-at*)
+
+;; trim from beginning & end of list
+(define (trim items test-proc)
+  (list? procedure? . -> . list?)
+  (dropf-right (dropf items test-proc) test-proc))
+
+
+;; split list into list of sublists using test-proc
+(define/contract (splitf-at* xs split-test)
+    
+  ;; todo: better error message when split-test is not a predicate
+  (list? predicate/c . -> . (listof list?))
+  (define (&splitf-at* xs [acc '()]) ; use acc for tail recursion
+    (if (empty? xs) 
+        ;; reverse because accumulation is happening backward 
+        ;; (because I'm using cons to push latest match onto front of list)
+        (reverse acc)
+        (let-values ([(item rest) 
+                      ;; drop matching elements from front
+                      ;; then split on nonmatching 
+                      ;; = nonmatching item + other elements (which will start with matching)
+                      (splitf-at (dropf xs split-test) (compose1 not split-test))])
+          ;; recurse, and store new item in accumulator
+          (&splitf-at* rest (cons item acc)))))
+  
+  ;; trim off elements matching split-test
+  (&splitf-at* (trim xs split-test)))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.rkt b/main.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93eb9c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#lang racket/base
+
+(require
+  "coerce.rkt"
+  "container.rkt"
+  "debug.rkt"
+  "list.rkt"
+  "misc.rkt"
+  "string.rkt"
+  "len.rkt")
+
+(provide 
+ (all-from-out
+  "coerce.rkt"
+  "container.rkt"
+  "debug.rkt"
+  "list.rkt"
+  "misc.rkt"
+  "string.rkt"
+  "len.rkt"))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/misc.rkt b/misc.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1fbe6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require racket/contract)
+
+;; convert a bytecount into a string
+(define/contract (bytecount->string bytecount)
+  (integer? . -> . string?)
+  (define (format-with-threshold threshold suffix)
+    ;; upconvert by factor of 100 to get two digits after decimal
+    (format "~a ~a" (exact->inexact (/ (round ((* bytecount 100) . / . threshold)) 100)) suffix))
+  
+  (define threshold-kilobyte 1000)
+  (define threshold-megabyte (threshold-kilobyte . * . threshold-kilobyte))
+  (define threshold-gigabyte (threshold-megabyte . * . threshold-kilobyte))
+  (define threshold-terabyte (threshold-gigabyte . * . threshold-kilobyte))
+  
+  (cond
+    [(bytecount . >= . threshold-terabyte) (format-with-threshold threshold-terabyte "TB")]
+    [(bytecount . >= . threshold-gigabyte) (format-with-threshold threshold-gigabyte "GB")]
+    [(bytecount . >= . threshold-megabyte) (format-with-threshold threshold-megabyte "MB")]
+    [(bytecount . >= . threshold-kilobyte) (format-with-threshold threshold-kilobyte "KB")]
+    [else (format "~a bytes" bytecount)]))
+
+
+;; for use inside quasiquote
+;; instead of ,(when ...) use ,@(when/splice ...)
+;; to avoid voids
+(define-syntax-rule (when/splice test body) (if test (list body) '()))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scribblings/sugar.scrbl b/scribblings/sugar.scrbl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8739cb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scribblings/sugar.scrbl
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#lang scribble/manual
+
+@(require scribble/eval (for-label racket "../main.rkt"))
+
+@(define my-eval (make-base-eval))
+@(my-eval `(require sugar))
+
+
+@title{Sugar}
+
+@author[(author+email "Matthew Butterick" "mb@mbtype.com")]
+
+A collection of little functions that help make Racket code more readable.
+
+@section{Installation & updates}
+
+At the command line:
+@verbatim{raco pkg install sugar}
+
+After that, you can update the package from the command line:
+@verbatim{raco pkg update sugar}
+
+
+@section{Interface}
+
+@defmodule[sugar]
+
+Hello sugar.
+
+
+@section{License & source code}
+
+This module is licensed under the LGPL.
+
+Source repository at @link["http://github.com/mbutterick/sugar"]{http://github.com/mbutterick/sugar}. Suggestions & corrections welcome.
+
diff --git a/string.rkt b/string.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4d086b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/string.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require racket/contract)
+(require "coerce.rkt" "container.rkt" "len.rkt")
+
+(provide starts-with? ends-with?)
+
+;; stringish: data type that can be trivially converted to string
+;; todo: merge this with pathish
+(define/contract (stringish? x)
+  (any/c . -> . boolean?)
+  (with-handlers ([exn:fail? (λ(e) #f)])
+    (->boolean (->string x))))
+
+;; python-style string testers
+(define/contract (starts-with? str starter)
+  (stringish? stringish? . -> . boolean?)
+  (let ([str (->string str)]
+        [starter (->string starter)])
+    (and (<= (len starter) (len str)) (equal? (get str 0 (len starter)) starter))))
+
+
+(define/contract (ends-with? str ender)
+  (string? string? . -> . boolean?)
+  (and (<= (len ender) (len str)) (equal? (get str (- (len str) (len ender)) 'end) ender)))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests.rkt b/tests.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5dde89f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#lang racket/base
+
+(require rackunit net/url racket/set)
+(require "coerce.rkt" "container.rkt" "string.rkt" "list.rkt")
+
+(check-equal? (->string "foo") "foo")
+(check-equal? (->string '()) "")
+(check-equal? (->string 'foo) "foo")
+(check-equal? (->string 123) "123")
+(check-equal? (->string (string->url "foo/bar.html")) "foo/bar.html")
+(define file-name-as-text "foo.txt")
+(check-equal? (->string (string->path file-name-as-text)) file-name-as-text)
+(check-equal? (->string #\¶) "¶")
+(check-equal? (->string '(foo "bar")) "<foo>bar</foo>")
+
+
+
+(check-equal? (->path "foo") (string->path "foo"))
+(check-equal? (->path 'foo) (string->path "foo"))
+(check-equal? (->path 123) (string->path "123"))
+(check-equal? (->path (string->url "foo/bar.html")) (string->path "foo/bar.html"))
+
+(check-equal? (->list '(1 2 3)) '(1 2 3))
+(check-equal? (->list (list->vector '(1 2 3))) '(1 2 3))
+(check-equal? (->list (set 1 2 3)) '(3 2 1))
+(check-equal? (->list "foo") (list "foo"))
+
+(check-true (->boolean #t))
+(check-false (->boolean #f))
+(check-true (->boolean "#f")) 
+(check-true (->boolean "foo"))
+(check-true (->boolean '()))
+(check-true (->boolean '(1 2 3)))
+
+
+(check-equal? (len '(1 2 3)) 3)
+(check-not-equal? (len '(1 2)) 3) ; len 2
+(check-equal? (len "foo") 3)
+(check-not-equal? (len "fo") 3) ; len 2
+(check-equal? (len 'foo) 3)
+(check-not-equal? (len 'fo) 3) ; len 2
+(check-equal? (len (list->vector '(1 2 3))) 3)
+(check-not-equal? (len (list->vector '(1 2))) 3) ; len 2
+(check-equal? (len (set 1 2 3)) 3)
+(check-not-equal? (len (set 1 2)) 3) ; len 2
+(check-equal? (len (make-hash '((a . 1) (b . 2) (c . 3)))) 3)
+(check-not-equal? (len (make-hash '((a . 1) (b . 2)))) 3) ; len 2
+
+
+(check-equal? (get '(0 1 2 3 4 5) 2) 2)
+(check-equal? (get `(0 1 ,(list 2) 3 4 5) 2) (list 2))
+(check-equal? (get '(0 1 2 3 4 5) 0 2) '(0 1))
+(check-equal? (get '(0 1 2 3 4 5) 2 -1) '(2 3 4))
+(check-equal? (get '(0 1 2 3 4 5) 2 'end) '(2 3 4 5))
+(check-equal? (get (list->vector '(0 1 2 3 4 5)) 2) 2)
+(check-equal? (get (list->vector'(0 1 2 3 4 5)) 0 2) (list->vector '(0 1)))
+(check-equal? (get (list->vector'(0 1 2 3 4 5)) 2 -1) (list->vector '(2 3 4)))
+(check-equal? (get (list->vector'(0 1 2 3 4 5)) 2 'end) (list->vector '(2 3 4 5)))
+(check-equal? (get "purple" 2) "r")
+(check-equal? (get "purple" 0 2) "pu")
+(check-equal? (get "purple" 2 -1) "rpl")
+(check-equal? (get "purple" 2 'end) "rple")
+(check-equal? (get 'purple 2) 'r)
+(check-equal? (get 'purple 0 2) 'pu)
+(check-equal? (get 'purple 2 -1) 'rpl)
+(check-equal? (get 'purple 2 'end) 'rple)
+(check-equal? (get (make-hash `((a . ,(list 1)) (b . ,(list 2)) (c  . ,(list 3)))) 'a) (list 1))
+
+
+(check-true (2 . in? . '(1 2 3)))
+(check-false (4 . in? . '(1 2 3)))
+(check-true (2 . in? . (list->vector '(1 2 3))))
+(check-false (4 . in? . (list->vector '(1 2 3))))
+(check-true ('a . in? . (make-hash '((a . 1) (b . 2) (c  . 3)))))
+(check-false ('x . in? . (make-hash '((a . 1) (b . 2) (c  . 3)))))
+(check-true ("o" . in? . "foobar"))
+(check-false ("z" . in? . "foobar"))
+(check-true ('o . in? . 'foobar))
+(check-false ('z . in? . 'foobar))
+(check-false ("F" . in? . #\F))
+
+
+(check-true ("foobar" . starts-with? . "foo"))
+(check-true ("foobar" . starts-with? . "f"))
+(check-true ("foobar" . starts-with? . "foobar"))
+(check-false ("foobar" . starts-with? . "bar"))
+(check-true ("foobar" . ends-with? . "bar"))
+(check-true ("foobar" . ends-with? . "r"))
+(check-true ("foobar" . ends-with? . "foobar"))
+(check-false ("foobar" . ends-with? . "foo"))
+
+;  (check-equal? (trim (list "\n" " " 1 2 3 "\n") whitespace?) '(1 2 3))
+(check-equal? (trim (list 1 3 2 4 5 6 8 9 13) odd?) '(2 4 5 6 8))
+; (check-equal? (splitf-at* '("foo" " " "bar" "\n" "\n" "ino") whitespace?) '(("foo")("bar")("ino")))
+(check-equal? (splitf-at* '(1 2 3 4 5 6) even?) '((1)(3)(5)))
\ No newline at end of file