From: ··············@yahoo.com.br
Subject: Doubt about defparameter and defconstant
Date: 
Message-ID: <1180835359.580399.270310@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>
Hi, i recently started to learn programming in common-lisp, im reading
the book Ansi Common-Lisp, so about this two functions defparameter
and defconstant:
I use CLISP, i tried the following code
> (defparameter x 9) (x)
then i got an error, when i try to quote (x) instead, i got as the
result the symbol X, in both cases i was expecting to get 9 as the
result on the SLIME toplevel, i also tried to do the same things
substituting defparameter with defconstant and got the same results.
So my questions are: why that first code isnt valid? And whats the
difference between defparameter and defconstant? Apreciate any help,
thanks and sorry for any english mistake, its not my first language.

From: Vassil Nikolov
Subject: Re: Doubt about defparameter and defconstant
Date: 
Message-ID: <ka7iql7mh3.fsf@localhost.localdomain>
On Sat, 02 Jun 2007 18:49:19 -0700, ··············@yahoo.com.br said:
| ...
| so about this two functions defparameter
| and defconstant:

  (As an terminological aside: they are special operators, in fact,
  not functions.)

| I use CLISP, i tried the following code
| > (defparameter x 9) (x)

  Try

    > (defparameter x 9)
    > x

  since

    > (x)

  is a call to a function (or special operator) X (which you
  (probably) do not intend to define).

| ...
| And whats the difference between defparameter and defconstant?

  DEFPARAMETER defines a (global) variable, i.e. one which can be
  bound to a different value at times (or even reassigned, if you are
  that way inclined).  DEFCONSTANT, as the name implies, defines a
  constant, i.e. its value will always be the one given in the
  DEFCONSTANT form.

  ---Vassil.


-- 
The truly good code is the obviously correct code.
From: ··············@yahoo.com.br
Subject: Re: Doubt about defparameter and defconstant
Date: 
Message-ID: <1180912522.778443.233430@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>
Thanks :)