Subject: Re: The history of print, prin1, and princ?
From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net>
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2001 23:25:58 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Message-ID: <3216929157799333@naggum.net>

* Kent M Pitman
| The problem I have with WRITE is that in most implementations, keyargs are
| slow to decode.  Not a language problem, per se, but still worrisome.

  If this is the case, does it apply to the number of keyword arguments in
  the lambda list or in the actual call?  Is it that write is expected to
  bind the corresponding special variables in the keyword decoding that
  makes write slower?

| Also, in practice, I've found people to be not good about selecting the
| right one of :escape t and :escape nil.  Often they just take the
| default, thinking on the basis of too little testing, that it will just
| get the right value.  PRIN1 vs PRINC forces people to think harder.

  Well, in my experience, failure to understand the interaction of the
  printer control variables is pervasive.  It appears to be very hard for
  some people to get into the habit of thinking about them, and they write
  amazingly buggy code.

  Thank you for the elaborate answer.

///
-- 
  The past is not more important than the future, despite what your culture
  has taught you.  Your future observations, conclusions, and beliefs are
  more important to you than those in your past ever will be.  The world is
  changing so fast the balance between the past and the future has shifted.