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1 point by zxquarx 6150 days ago | link | parent

If can be implemented as a primitive function instead of a special form given the fn operator. It could take three arguments: a condition, a then function, and an else function and then call the appropriate function. An example implementation is:

(def if2 (cond then else) (if cond (then) (else)))

If2 would be given as a primitive function and its implementation would be hidden like that of cons is. Given access to if2, a basic if construct is:

(mac basic-if (cond then (o else)) `(if2 ,cond (fn () ,then) (fn () ,else)))

This would make code walkers easier because they wouldn't have to know about as many special forms.