[cdr-discuss] Three RFCs

[Pascal Costanza]

On 18 Mar 2008, at 12:09, Leslie P. Polzer wrote:

>> But according to the current spec, ` need not expand into anything at
>> all.  What I am challenging is your assertion that there should be a
>> single ("the") backquote object that ` always expands to.
>
> It would be handy and add consistency (why is the expansion for quote
> defined but not the one for backquote?).

It is also sometimes the case that you want to expand into a use of  
backquote, unquote and unquote-splicing in your own macro definitions.  
In some cases, this can be very handy. But in Common Lisp, these  
things are handled at readtime, that's too early for macroexpansion.

I could imagine a compromise where backquote, unquote and unquote- 
splicing is available as special forms, but where the corresponding  
syntax is not required to expand into those. Although I don't know  
what the implications thereof are...


Pascal

-- 
1st European Lisp Symposium (ELS'08)
http://prog.vub.ac.be/~pcostanza/els08/

Pascal Costanza, mailto:pc at p-cos.net, http://p-cos.net
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Programming Technology Lab
Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium