jvanderhyde <jamesvh...@hotmail.com> writes:
> I want to say something like this:
>
> A word is considered a var unless it is quoted. Example: 'hello
>
> A list is considered a function invocation unless it is quoted. Example:
> '(1 2 3)
>
I think you really need to bite the bullet and say "everything is
evaluated, unless it is quoted". So:
Everything is evaluated unless it is quoted, in which case it is a
literal.
A word evaluates to a value.
A list evaluates to the return value of a function call.
I would be careful with the "var" word because Clojure has a specific
meaning for "var", and it is probably not somewhere you want to go.
> I don't think "word" is the correct term to use. Do I mean "symbol"? Do I
> mean "symbol" instead of "var"?
> Is "list" better called a "form" or an "s-expression"?
I would just use "expression" because it's common to other languages.
But they are still not the same -- an expression can be a list, but
could be something else.
> Can someone help me with what I'm trying to say? It's OK to oversimplify,
> but I don't want to use wrong words that will introduce confusion. Thanks
> for the help.
If you really want to start simple, just drop the bit about quoting. In
Clojure, you rarely need to quote since you can use a vector instead of
a literal list, and it's a lisp-1. With a bit more fiddling you get:
A word evaluates to a value.
A list is evaluated as a function call.
You can talk about quoting later when it becomes necessary.
Phil
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