https://github.com/norvig/paip-lisp/blob/master/docs/chapter3.md
Chapter 03 Overview of Lisp
No doubt about it. Common Lisp is a big language.
-Guy L. Steele, Jr.
Foreword to Koschman 1990
A Guide to Lisp Style
In general, there are six maxims that every programmer should follow:
- Be specific.
- Use abstractions.
- Be concise.
- Use the provided tools.
- Don’t be obscure.
- Be consistent.
Special Forms
| definitions | conditional | variables | iteration | other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| defun | and | let | do | declare |
| defstruct | case | let* | do* | function |
| defvar | cond | pop | dolist | progn |
| defparameter | if | push | dotimes | quote |
| defconstant | or | setf | loop | return |
| defmacro | unless | incf | trace | |
| labels | when | decf | untrace |
To be precise, only declare, function, if, labels, let, let*, progn and quote are true special forms. The others are actually defined as macros that expand into calls to more primitive special forms and functions. There is no real difference to the programmer, and Common Lisp implementations are free to implement macros as special forms and vice versa, so for simplicity we will continue to use “special form” as a blanket term for both true special forms and built-in macros.
Special Forms for Definitions
(defun function-name (parameter...) "optional documentation" body...) |