[cdr-discuss] Names for the equality generic function

[Terje Norderhaug]

I have an alternative to coming up with different names for the generic equivalent to Common Lisp functions:

   Give the generic functions the same name as the equivalent Common Lisp functions and intern them in a new package that doesn't use the CL package.

Actually, I'd like to see generic equivalents for many Common Lisp functions beyond equality. Using a different package but the same names for the methods as for the Common Lisp functions would save us from coming up with new names - and from having to remember the new names when coding.

Say the new package for generic Common Lisp functions has a nickname GL for short. Then the generic for equality would be GL:EQUALP.

A GL package could initially implement the basic equivalent methods for Common Lisp functions simply by calling the Common Lisp function, such as:

(defmethod gl:equalp (object1 object2)
   (cl:equalp object1 object2))

Developers can then specialize these methods for custom classes and datatypes. Not only gl:equalp, but also gl:mapcar, gl:sort, gl:rest, ...

-- Terje Norderhaug

Marco Antoniotti <marcoxa at cs.nyu.edu>
>    From: marcoxa at gmail.com
>    Date: February 16, 2011 9:58:50 AM GMT+01:00
>    To: marcoxa at cs.nyu.edu
>    Subject: Names for the equality generic function
> 
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>    Names for the equality generic function
> 
>    What name should be used for the generic function "equality"? *
>      □ ( ) EQUALITY
>      □ ( ) EQUIV
>      □ ( ) EQUP
>      □ ( ) EQUALS
>      □ ( ) ==
>      □ ( ) EQUIVALENT
>      □ ( ) AEQUALIS
>      □ ( ) SAMEP
>      □ ( ) EQUIVP