clojure / clojure/clojure-site

`evaluation.adoc` is inconsistent with current function evaluation semantics

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content
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HTML
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Description

evaluation.adoc states that "Any object other than those discussed above will evaluate to itself," without mentioning function objects. In CLJ-1206, it was reported that certain function objects cause errors in eval, when nested in a form (and since that bug was opened, several others have independently run into this problem and posted on the mailing list).

A fix for CLJ-1206 was declined, with the prevailing opinion seeming to be that eval should not be applied to non-data-structure'y things. If that's the case, clojure.org/reference/evaluation should probably be updated to correctly describe the semantics of eval, and which "other objects" are guaranteed to evaluate to themselves, versus error, versus trigger undefined behavior.

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
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Research direction

Start with content/reference/evaluation.adoc and the CLJ-1206 discussion linked in the issue. Verify the intended behavior of eval for function objects and other objects, then update the wording to distinguish guaranteed self-evaluation, errors, and undefined behavior. Done means the page accurately reflects current semantics.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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