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3 points by randallsquared 6117 days ago | link | parent

The symbol 'if is a special operator, not a macro or function. The special operators in Arc's compiler are quote, quasiquote, if, fn, and set.

Probably it would be convenient to have an object tagged as a special operator for those, but it would be documentation, not functional code.



4 points by pg 6117 days ago | link

Special operator is what they're called in CL. I don't know offhand what they're called in Scheme. But what it amounts to is that if only exists as a clause in the compiler.

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2 points by randallsquared 6117 days ago | link

"Special operator is what they're called in CL."

Yeah, I know much less about Scheme than CL, so I used the CL term.

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1 point by jimbokun 6114 days ago | link

What are they called in Arc? :)

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2 points by pg 6114 days ago | link

Special operator sounds good. Or axiom, if we want to be fancy.

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