From: Luc Teirlinck <teirllm@dms.auburn.edu>
Subject: listp docstring.
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 22:31:02 -0600 (CST) [thread overview]
Message-ID: <200601300431.k0U4V2a03419@raven.dms.auburn.edu> (raw)
I do not exactly want to start another thread of the car/cdr type.
But the docstring of listp _really_ can be unclear _even_ for people
who know Lisp. The current docstring is:
Return t if object is a list. This includes nil.
But "list" is ambiguous: its strict meaning, intended here, is
"cons cell or nil". But it is very often used informally in the sense
of "true list", including in some other docstrings. The car/cdr
thread has shown that there really is some potential confusion here,
since many people do understand list as "true list".
What about the following docstring, which I can install if desired:
Return t if OBJECT is a list, that is, a cons cell or nil.
Otherwise, return nil.
Sincerely,
Luc.
next reply other threads:[~2006-01-30 4:31 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2006-01-30 4:31 Luc Teirlinck [this message]
2006-01-30 4:54 ` listp docstring Luc Teirlinck
2006-01-30 23:25 ` Richard M. Stallman
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