Re: constant `e'

[Stefan Monnier]

> I find very curious this change by Stefan:

> ;; It's too inconvenient to make `e' a constant because it's used as
> ;; a temporary variable all the time.
> (defvar e (exp 1) "The value of e (2.7182818...).")

> But

>  (let ((pi 3.2)) pi) => 3.2

> so there's no problem with constants and temporary variables. I think
> that must be related to some local patches he mentioned a while ago
> for allowing real constants...

> Am I right, Stefan, or did I misunderstand this comment in the code?

Not quite.  I discovered the problem thanks to my local hack that makes
`defconst' into immutable variables, but the reason why I propagated this to
the repository is that even tho the current implementation of `defconst'
does not currently make variables immutable, it is its intention.

In any case I completely agree that `e' should be renamed, maybe to
something like `math-e'.


        Stefan