Re: on ``An Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp''

[Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se>]

Filipp Gunbin <fgunbin@fastmail.fm> writes:

>> The title rings a little off-key - shouldn't it be
>> "An introduction to *Lisp*, with some of the
>> intricacies of *Emacs Lisp* on top"?
>
> According to its purpose - no, it shouldn't :-)

Well, there is programming in Lisp. If you happen to
do that in the context of Emacs, the particular
dialect of Lisp is Emacs Lisp.

Even that is stretching it because the "dialectic"
differences are negligible. It is rather the
applications that are particular to the context - and
I suppose the Emacs buffer is the best example
of that.

But also everything that comes with Emacs - the
software. Take a look at this piece of code:

    (require 'cl-macs)
    (require 'gnus-msg)
    (require 'message)

    (defun mail-to-many (to subject body)
      (cl-dolist (this-to to)
        (gnus-post-news 'post "")
        (message-goto-to)          (insert this-to)
        (message-goto-subject)     (insert subject)
        (message-goto-body)        (insert body)
        (message-send-and-exit) ))

1. Obviously the code is Lisp.

2. The "Emacs Lisp" factor is zero. (?)

3. The context/application factor is:

    - there are macros to get CL syntax

    - there is Gnus which is used for mail and NNTP
      communication from/to Emacs

    - there is a Gnus interface to composing messages,
      message mode, which by all means can be used
      without Gnus as well, and here it is used to
      automatize mailing

With the "Emacs Lisp" in the title, it sounds like the
focus is 2 - but it should be 1 + 3! (And perhaps it
is, as I haven't read the book.) Some mention of 2.
and in particular where it differs can be useful but
that should amount to a very small part of any such
book.

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573