Subject: RE: bug#11847: 24.1.50; Error: Don't know how to compile #[nil "..."]

From: "Drew Adams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 11:00:03 -0700

> Byte-compilation is not done within quoted forms (i.e. forms 
> that start with '), so byte-compilation normally is not done
> on the code passed to eval-after-load since that code is
> usually quoted.

That's what I thought.  Which means that I still need that code to let Icicles
users optionally byte-compile the defuns in the `eval-after-load' contexts.

> > (and if so whether that is true in older Emacs versions also)
> 
> Yes, there has not been any change in this regard.  What has 
> changed is that byte-compile now complains when it can't do
> its job, whereas it used to silently just return nil without
> doing anything.

I guess the bug has to do with why it thinks it cannot do its job here.  Unless
there is some bug in my code that makes compilation impossible where it should
otherwise be possible.  Can you tell by looking at the code I sent?  Or do you
think there is a byte-compiler bug here?

Since older byte-compiler versions apparently were silent when they could not
compile, I don't know whether they were able to compile or not in this context.

Hence the value of the new error.  But I wonder whether it shouldn't be (perhaps
it already is?) configurable: e.g., ignore, warning message only, raise error.