(define a 5)
(set-object-property! (module-variable (current-module) 'a) 'documentation
"The variable a contains a number.")

?

On Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:29 AM Jean Abou Samra <jean@abou-samra.fr> wrote:

> Le 02/11/2022 à 02:08, Jacob Hrbek a écrit :
> > The ability to document variables is critical for many projects such
> > as libfive where the variables is used to declares functional computer
> > aided design structure and other projects where variables influence
> > the workflow.
> >
> > Thus proposing to change the 'define' behavior for variables to
> implement:
> >
> >     (define variable default-value docstring)
> >                                                    ^^^^^^
> >
> > Where docstring is optional and in case it's provided to call for
> example:
> >
> > (set-procedure-property! variable 'documentation docstring)
>
>
>
>
> The problem is that in Scheme, you cannot attach metadata to immediate
> values. According to the Scheme standards and the Guile documentation,
>
>
> (define a 5)
> (define b 5)
>
> (eq? a b) => may be #t or #f
> (eq? a a) => may be #t or #f
>
>
> So it's considerably more complicated than using an object property,
> because that would not work reliably for variables defined to immediates
> like numbers and characters. Instead you would need to attach the
> metadata to the name you're defining the variable to, like Elisp does,
> but unlike Guile does with procedures right now, and it's not as simple
> in Scheme due to lexical scoping.
>
> Best,
> Jean
>
>
>