Re: Should let symbols be interned?

[Stefan Monnier]

>> I rest my case: you're confusing variables and symbols.
>> Symbols are fundamentally nothing more than hash-consed strings.
>> 
>> Symbols are created by the lexer, not by the evaluator, so insertion into
>> a big obarray only affects the performance of the lexer/parser.
>> 
>> 
>> Stefan


> Thanks, I guess I understand a bit more. Just out of curiosity: Does the
> lexer/parser know that it is a let variable at the time the symbol is
> inserted or is that information only available later to the evaluator?

The lexer/parser doesn't even know if it's parsing code or data.  That's the
meaning of "syntax" as opposed to "semantics".


        Stefan