Single quoting lets you pass a list without evaluating it.
(car (eval '(a b c))) vs. (car (a b c))
Do the same thing.
Have you read SICP? Somewhere in the 1st-3rd chapter there's an explanation of first-order evaluation that scheme uses. Once you know how scheme evals sexps, it makes sense that quote skips some of the steps of evaluation.
I strongly recommend the SICP/Little Schemer/Seasoned Schemer if you haven't heard of them.
Thanks for the explanation of the single quote. Can I convince you to add something about what a "symbol" is (and if it's connected in some way to the single-quote mechanism)?
Comments
Single quoting lets you pass a list without evaluating it.
(car (eval '(a b c))) vs. (car (a b c))
Do the same thing.
Have you read SICP? Somewhere in the 1st-3rd chapter there's an explanation of first-order evaluation that scheme uses. Once you know how scheme evals sexps, it makes sense that quote skips some of the steps of evaluation. I strongly recommend the SICP/Little Schemer/Seasoned Schemer if you haven't heard of them.
> Have you read SICP?
I'm still in chapter 1.
Thanks for the explanation of the single quote. Can I convince you to add something about what a "symbol" is (and if it's connected in some way to the single-quote mechanism)?
Perhaps this can help: http://scheme.com/tspl4/objects.html#./objects:h11
Thank you.
Don't macros change the rule a bit?