GNU bug report logs - #23781
25.0.95; read-string with HIST lexically bound

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Message #23 received at 23781 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stephen Berman <stephen.berman <at> gmx.net>
To: Noam Postavsky <npostavs <at> users.sourceforge.net>
Cc: Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen <at> web.de>,
 Tino Calancha <f92capac <at> gmail.com>, 23781 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
 Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Subject: Re: bug#23781: 25.0.95; read-string with HIST lexically bound
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2016 12:12:46 +0200

On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 20:26:45 -0400 Noam Postavsky <npostavs <at> users.sourceforge.net> wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 23, 2016 at 7:18 PM, Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com> wrote:
>>> I think we should be a little more specific, not
>>> just give examples, something like:
>>>
>>>     Note that functions which take a symbol argument (like
>>>     ‘symbol-value’, ‘boundp’, and ‘set’) can only retrieve or modify a
>>>     variable’s dynamic binding (i.e., the contents of its symbol’s
>>>     value cell).
>>
>> Be even more specific: A Lisp symbol is a dynamic thing.
>> It is an object.  Lexical binding has nothing to do with symbols.
>> A given _name_ in code can sometimes be lexically bound.
>
> Hmm, this threatens to get a little philosophical, but that seems to
> contradict earlier text in the same node:
>
>        Here is how lexical binding works.  Each binding construct
>     defines a “lexical environment”, specifying the symbols that are
>     bound within the construct and their local values.

I think it's more a question of definition than philosophy: AFAIU using
the word "symbols" here is strictly speaking incorrect; it should be
"variables".

Steve Berman

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