Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!mcnc!unc!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uiucdcsp!bsmith
From: bsmith@uiucdcsp.CS.UIUC.EDU
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: Re: Common LISP style standards.
Message-ID: <3500013@uiucdcsp>
Date: Tue, 13-May-86 20:59:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcsp.3500013
Posted: Tue May 13 20:59:00 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 16-May-86 06:15:59 EDT
References: <2784@jhunix.UUCP>
Lines: 14
Nf-ID: #R:jhunix.UUCP:2784:uiucdcsp:3500013:000:789
Nf-From: uiucdcsp.CS.UIUC.EDU!bsmith    May 13 19:59:00 1986


A couple of short comments.
	First, about comments.  You might want to embed into a function
a string that will print out as on the fly documentation if the system
supports it (Symbolics does).  This helps when using a function you wrote
2 months earlier that's lost somewhere in 200 pages of code.

	Second, there are a couple of rules about using conditionals that
make a lot of sense.  If you have a single condition followed by a single
then statement followed by a single else statement, use "if."  If you have
a single condition followed by a single then statement and no else
statement, use "when."  If you have a single negative condition followed
by a single then statement, use "unless."  If you have multiple conditions,
or need to use progn anywhere, a cond is more readable.