From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: David Kastrup Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Documentation for car and cdr Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:29:16 +0100 Message-ID: <85irs7j38z.fsf@lola.goethe.zz> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1138231792 15811 80.91.229.2 (25 Jan 2006 23:29:52 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:29:52 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Bill Atkins , emacs-devel@gnu.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Jan 26 00:29:49 2006 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by ciao.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1F1u4x-0007xQ-If for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:29:34 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1F1u7i-0001Sk-UJ for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:32:22 -0500 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1F1u7Q-0001SA-99 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:32:04 -0500 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1F1u7P-0001Rj-3i for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:32:03 -0500 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1F1u7O-0001Rg-W7 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:32:03 -0500 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.164] (helo=fencepost.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.52) id 1F1u4s-0006pL-3S for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:29:26 -0500 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lola.goethe.zz) by fencepost.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1F1u4O-00050M-Gv; Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:28:56 -0500 Original-Received: by lola.goethe.zz (Postfix, from userid 1002) id 286741D3273B; Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:29:16 +0100 (CET) Original-To: Alan Mackenzie In-Reply-To: (Alan Mackenzie's message of "Wed, 25 Jan 2006 21:41:26 +0000 (GMT)") User-Agent: Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.0.50 (gnu/linux) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:49547 Archived-At: Alan Mackenzie writes: > On Wed, 25 Jan 2006, Bill Atkins wrote: > >>Why do we need to "speak loosely"? > > So as to be immediately understandable. But the understanding will be faulty. There is no way we can be immediately understandable if the concept of a cons cell is unknown. >>Including a link to a description of cons cells is completely >>adequate. > > Yes, but only in addition to an intuitively meaningful description, > not instead of it. Intuitively meaningful is no substitute for correct. > Because that would force the poor hacker to go and look somewhere > else. We don't explain the concept of addition in the doc string for +, or the concept of comparisons in the doc string for >. -- David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum