GNU bug report logs - #58513
describe-function should say that defconst variables are constant

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From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Phil Sainty <psainty <at> orcon.net.nz>
Cc: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas <at> gmail.com>, 58513 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#58513: describe-function should say that defconst variables are constant
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:40:27 +0200

Phil Sainty <psainty <at> orcon.net.nz> writes:

> It does at least one thing different: if you load or eval a defconst
> for a variable which already exists, the value is updated.

Yes, that's true.

And we could start adding a symbol property saying that a constant is
meant to be constant, and perhaps start warning if people change it, but
that would make things slower for basic things like `setq', so I'm
pretty sure it's not worth it.

We could use that property to make describe-function say that the
variable isn't meant to be changed, though.  But is it worth adding to
the symbol plist just for that?  Hm...

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