Re: What happened to (defun x)?

[martin rudalics]

> Couldn't an autoload declaration be made to achieve the same effect?  It
> specifies function and file, too.

I'm not sure whether that would be more convenient.  The basic problem
is that defuns get more "static" now - people will hesitate more often
before moving a defun from one file to another because they have to
think of all the files they have to change on top of that.  Merging code
from different versions will become a problem when definitions have
moved.

But I have to admit that - as a _reader_ of Elisp code - I had wanted a
`declare-variable' as well.  Often when I encounter a (defvar foo) I
have to think twice whether that's a variable defined elsewhere or
simply a lazy attitude of a writer who didn't want to provide an initial
value.