GNU bug report logs - #62020
Lisp reader: dotted pair notation not working when initial elements are omitted

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Message #17 received at 62020 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mattias Engdegård <mattiase <at> acm.org>
To: Federico Tedin <federicotedin <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 62020 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>,
 Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Subject: Re: bug#62020: Lisp reader: dotted pair notation not working when
 initial elements are omitted
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2023 11:37:27 +0100

7 mars 2023 kl. 18.24 skrev Federico Tedin <federicotedin <at> gmail.com>:

> The reason I found this is actually a bit funny. I am
> working on re-implementing the Elisp interpreter (and other parts of
> Emacs) in Go, as a hobby/learning/fun project.

Delighted to hear about that! Best of luck, and do let us know about what else of interest you discover, whether you think they are bugs in Emacs or not.

The manual should include a formal syntax that describes what the Lisp reader accepts. It would benefit many users, not just those seeking to clone Emacs.

> I agree that using the (. x) notation is not really needed, I haven't
> used it in any of my code myself.

That's the general conclusion on this side as well: by disallowing the quirk we do the user a much greater service than by letting it pass, since any occurrence is far more likely to be a mistake than actually intended.

Let's correct the manual in Emacs 29 so that it corresponds to the code.

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