McCarthy's eval correction?
From
Daniel Cerqueira@21:1/5 to
All on Thu Apr 17 11:37:09 2025
In trying to understand McCarthy's eval, I have one question left
unresolved. Let me give a code snippet of eval, which is written in
Common Lisp, taken from Paul Graham's draft.
```
(defun eval. (e a)
(cond
...
((eq (caar e) 'label)
(eval. (cons (caddar e) (cdr e))
(cons (list (cadar e) (car e)) a)))
...
))
```
I wonder what practical difference does it make to, instead, write eval
like this:
```
(defun eval. (e a)
(cond
...
((eq (caar e) 'label)
(eval. (cons (caddar e) (cdr e))
(cons (list (cadar e) (caddar e)) a)))
...
))
```
Anyone?
In my opinion, it makes no practical difference, and this correction
avoids unnecessary double processing.
--
The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that
refuse military service. ~ Albert Einstein
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