26. Glossary

26.1 Glossary#

!!! Moon wonders if "denote" is the right verb for talking about what "designators" refer to. !!! Moon thinks the bottom header gets too close to the running text in this chapter. It even overstrikes on a few pages (e.g., p26-28 of draft 10.156) Barmar thinks we should define reference terms for expressions like "left & right". Moon sez: Most occurrences of "which" in the glossary should be "that" in correct English. I should review this later. -kmp Think about unifying terms: "type lattice", "type hierarchy", "type hierarchy lattice", "directed acyclic graph". RPG says "hierarchy" or "dag" are ok, but not "lattice". Allan Wechsler (ACW@Symbolics.COM) says: Regarding DAGs vs. lattices: I don't know the basis of Dick Gabriel's objection to the latter term. I think that it's quite clear mathematically that "lattice" is correct and "directed acyclic graph" is incorrect, but Gabriel's objection may not be mathematical. Details on request. I'm using the definitions from the ``Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mathematics.'' Think about these terms, which are commonly used without definition: "qualifier pattern" - something that gets matched against in method comb. "type specifier list" - the list form of a type specifier "default value" "optional parameter", ... Think about these terms, which are common concepts in search of a name, to cut down on wasted verbiage at multiple places in the text. "stringname" - a string or a symbol, which is taken the name of a string. if a symbol, then then it is treated as if its name had been supplied. Sometime search for braces immediately followed by an alpha char ("{...}s", "{...}es", "{...}ing", "{...}ed", etc.) because these are often clues to needed glossary words. KMP: Maybe a term "user symbol" being defined as "a symbol that is not accessible in the common-lisp package". (I find it cumbersome to write a param description that says a symbol that is not in the common-lisp package. This comes up in a number of places.) Barmar: That sounds like a reasonable term and definition. KMP: Issue--some places might need a restriction on keywords, too, but that should probably not be piggy-backed on the "user symbol" term.

Glossary

Each entry in this glossary has the following parts:

In addition, some terms have idiomatic usage in the Common Lisp community which is not shared by other communities, or which is not technically correct. Definitions labeled “Idiom.” represent such idiomatic usage; these definitions are sometimes followed by an explanatory note.

Words in this font are words with entries in the glossary. Word in \typeref{this font} are names of data types.Words in example sentences do not follow this convention.

When an ambiguity arises, the longest matching substring has precedence. For example, “complex float” refers to a single glossary entry for “complex float” rather than the combined meaning of the glossary terms “complex” and “float.”

Subscript notation, as in “somethingn” means that the nth definition of “something” is intended. This notation is used only in situations where the context might be insufficient to disambiguate.

The following are abbreviations used in the glossary:

AbbreviationMeaning
adj.adjective
adv.adverb
ANSIcompatible with one or more ANSI standards
Comp.computers
Idiom.idiomatic
IEEEcompatible with one or more IEEE standards
ISOcompatible with one or more ISO standards
Math.mathematics
Trad.traditional
n.noun
v.verb
v.t.transitive verb

Figure 26–1.