Subject: RE: [External] : Re: bug#76055: 29.4; Doc of string-empty-p

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2025 17:49:52 +0000

> > > Doesn't sound like a reason good enough to say potentially confusing
> > > things in a doc string.
> > >
> > > So no, still no justification and still no other opinions except
> > > yours.
> >
> > What's "potentially confusing" about the doc
> > saying exactly what the doc of `string=' says
> > about this oddity (corner case)?
> 
> The fact that the "empty string" notion is
> applied to symbols, of course.

That's not confusion from the doc.  It's from
the function that the doc describes.

What's unexpected and possibly confusing is
that the function _does_ apply that "notion"
to symbols, as well as strings.  Which is why
it's important for the function's doc to tell
you about this oddity.

Exactly the same reason that the doc for
`string=' tells you about it.  But for 
`string-empty-p' it's even more important,
since the _point_ of that predicate is to
test for emptiness (and the predicate's name
suggests it's about testing only strings).

The current doc gives the impression that
for a symbol (as for other non-strings) the
predicate would raise an error.