Subject: Re: bug#41742: 28.0.50; Derive gnus-edit-form-mode from lisp-data-mode

From: "Basil L. Contovounesios" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2020 23:31:46 +0100

Eric Abrahamsen <[email-masked]> writes:

> "Basil L. Contovounesios" <[email-masked]> writes:
>
>> While there, would you mind cleaning up how gnus-edit-form-mode-map is
>> defined?  It currently does a defvar+unless+setq dance, whereas it
>> should ideally only be a defvar+let, as per the last few paragraphs of
>> (info "(elisp) Tips for Defining").
>
> Huh, the last few paragraphs of that info page make it look like it's
> _okay_ to do defvar+unless+setq, am I misreading this? Granted it only
> says to do it so you can get the docstring closer to the defvar, and
> there's no docstring in this case, but it does seem acceptable.

I posit it's always better to defvar+let in one swell foop.

> I wonder what the point of writing it this way is, otherwise?

In most places I've seen defvar+unless, it's due to the author thinking
in terms of "if the user hasn't already defined this map before loading
this file, then..."

But defvar provides these semantics for free and in a cleaner way.

Unless I'm missing something, that is.

-- 
Basil