Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!lll-lcc!well!jjacobs
From: jjacobs@well.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Against the Tide of Common LISP
Message-ID: <2624@well.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 21-Feb-87 22:09:25 EST
Article-I.D.: well.2624
Posted: Sat Feb 21 22:09:25 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Feb-87 10:43:12 EST
Reply-To: jjacobs@well.UUCP (Jeffrey Jacobs)
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
Lines: 24


In <1284@Shasta.STANFORD.EDU>, Andy Freeman writes:

>I've forgetten why JJ is so down on macros; doesn't "real" lisp have
>them?

I'm not down on macros; I am down on SETF.

In a nutshell, SETF is essentially
a primitive, i.e. there are no corresponding operations for
many of it's features, so, as a macro, it becomes excessively
expensive, particularly for arrays.  I also don't believe that 'primitives'
anything other than a fixed number of arguments.

Both of these aspects should be reserved for a "higher level".

 Jeffrey M. Jacobs
 CONSART Systems Inc.
 Technical and Managerial Consultants
 P.O. Box 3016, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
 (213)376-3802
 CIS:75076,2603
 BIX:jeffjacobs
 USENET: jjacobs@well.UUCP