Subject: Re: difference between &rest and &body From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 2000/04/24 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3165559961204128@naggum.no> * Duane Smith <nicknews@ptcstudios.com> | I am new to Lisp and am wondering what is the difference between using | &rest and &body in a macro definition. They appear to do the same thing. yes, they _do_ the same thing, but they _mean_ different things. the same is true of car and first, for instance. remember that software is not written for the computer, but for programmers, including yourself. the more precise you are in communicating your _intent_ when writing, the less you have to worry about reconstructing your intent when you read it later. &rest mainly communicates "a list of objects, mostly of similar type", while &body mainly communicates "forms to be evaluated in the context set up by the macro". there are lots of variations on this theme, of course, but you get the idea. #:Erik