Table of Contents

• ANSI Common Lisp
• Credits
• 1 Introduction
  • 1.1 Scope, Purpose, and History
    • 1.1.1 Scope and Purpose
    • 1.1.2 History
  • 1.2 Organization of the Document
  • 1.3 Referenced Publications
  • 1.4 Definitions
    • 1.4.1 Notational Conventions
      • 1.4.1.1 Font Key
      • 1.4.1.2 Modified BNF Syntax
      • 1.4.1.2.1 Splicing in Modified BNF Syntax
      • 1.4.1.2.2 Indirection in Modified BNF Syntax
      • 1.4.1.2.3 Additional Uses for Indirect Definitions in Modified BNF Syntax
      • 1.4.1.3 Special Symbols
      • 1.4.1.4 Objects with Multiple Notations
      • 1.4.1.4.1 Case in Symbols
      • 1.4.1.4.2 Numbers
      • 1.4.1.4.3 Use of the Dot Character
      • 1.4.1.4.4 NIL
      • 1.4.1.5 Designators
      • 1.4.1.6 Nonsense Words
    • 1.4.2 Error Terminology
    • 1.4.3 Sections Not Formally Part Of This Standard
    • 1.4.4 Interpreting Dictionary Entries
      • 1.4.4.1 The “Affected By” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.2 The “Arguments” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.3 The “Arguments and Values” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.4 The “Binding Types Affected” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.5 The “Class Precedence List” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.6 Dictionary Entries for Type Specifiers
      • 1.4.4.6.1 The “Compound Type Specifier Kind” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.6.2 The “Compound Type Specifier Syntax” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.6.3 The “Compound Type Specifier Arguments” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.6.4 The “Compound Type Specifier Description” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.7 The “Constant Value” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.8 The “Description” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.9 The “Examples” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.10 The “Exceptional Situations” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.11 The “Initial Value” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.12 The “Argument Precedence Order” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.13 The “Method Signature” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.14 The “Name” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.15 The “Notes” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.16 The “Pronunciation” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.17 The “See Also” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.18 The “Side Effects” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.19 The “Supertypes” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.20 The “Syntax” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.20.1 Special “Syntax” Notations for Overloaded Operators
      • 1.4.4.20.2 Naming Conventions for Rest Parameters
      • 1.4.4.20.3 Requiring Non-Null Rest Parameters in the “Syntax” Section
      • 1.4.4.20.4 Return values in the “Syntax” Section
      • 1.4.4.20.4.1 No Arguments or Values in the “Syntax” Section
      • 1.4.4.20.4.2 Unconditional Transfer of Control in the “Syntax” Section
      • 1.4.4.21 The “Valid Context” Section of a Dictionary Entry
      • 1.4.4.22 The “Value Type” Section of a Dictionary Entry
  • 1.5 Conformance
    • 1.5.1 Conforming Implementations
      • 1.5.1.1 Required Language Features
      • 1.5.1.2 Documentation of Implementation-Dependent Features
      • 1.5.1.3 Documentation of Extensions
      • 1.5.1.4 Treatment of Exceptional Situations
      • 1.5.1.4.1 Resolution of Apparent Conflicts in Exceptional Situations
      • 1.5.1.4.1.1 Examples of Resolution of Apparent Conflicts
      • 1.5.1.5 Conformance Statement
    • 1.5.2 Conforming Programs
      • 1.5.2.1 Use of Implementation-Defined Language Features
      • 1.5.2.1.1 Use of Read-Time Conditionals
      • 1.5.2.2 Character Set for Portable Code
  • 1.6 Language Extensions
  • 1.7 Language Subsets
  • 1.8 Deprecated Language Features
    • 1.8.1 Deprecated Functions
    • 1.8.2 Deprecated Argument Conventions
    • 1.8.3 Deprecated Variables
    • 1.8.4 Deprecated Reader Syntax
  • 1.9 Symbols in the COMMON-LISP Package
• 2 Syntax
  • 2.1 Character Syntax
    • 2.1.1 Readtables
      • 2.1.1.1 The Current Readtable
      • 2.1.1.2 The Standard Readtable
      • 2.1.1.3 The Initial Readtable
    • 2.1.2 Variables that affect the Lisp Reader
    • 2.1.3 Standard Characters
    • 2.1.4 Character Syntax Types
      • 2.1.4.1 Constituent Characters
      • 2.1.4.2 Constituent Traits
      • 2.1.4.3 Invalid Characters
      • 2.1.4.4 Macro Characters
      • 2.1.4.5 Multiple Escape Characters
      • 2.1.4.5.1 Examples of Multiple Escape Characters
      • 2.1.4.6 Single Escape Character
      • 2.1.4.6.1 Examples of Single Escape Characters
      • 2.1.4.7 Whitespace Characters
      • 2.1.4.7.1 Examples of Whitespace Characters
  • 2.2 Reader Algorithm
  • 2.3 Interpretation of Tokens
    • 2.3.1 Numbers as Tokens
      • 2.3.1.1 Potential Numbers as Tokens
      • 2.3.1.1.1 Escape Characters and Potential Numbers
      • 2.3.1.1.2 Examples of Potential Numbers
    • 2.3.2 Constructing Numbers from Tokens
      • 2.3.2.1 Syntax of a Rational
      • 2.3.2.1.1 Syntax of an Integer
      • 2.3.2.1.2 Syntax of a Ratio
      • 2.3.2.2 Syntax of a Float
      • 2.3.2.3 Syntax of a Complex
    • 2.3.3 The Consing Dot
    • 2.3.4 Symbols as Tokens
    • 2.3.5 Valid Patterns for Tokens
    • 2.3.6 Package System Consistency Rules
  • 2.4 Standard Macro Characters
    • 2.4.1 Left-Parenthesis
    • 2.4.2 Right-Parenthesis
    • 2.4.3 Single-Quote
      • 2.4.3.1 Examples of Single-Quote
    • 2.4.4 Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.1 Examples of Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.2 Notes about Style for Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.2.1 Use of Single Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.2.2 Use of Double Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.2.3 Use of Triple Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.2.4 Use of Quadruple Semicolon
      • 2.4.4.2.5 Examples of Style for Semicolon
    • 2.4.5 Double-Quote
    • 2.4.6 Backquote
      • 2.4.6.1 Notes about Backquote
    • 2.4.7 Comma
    • 2.4.8 Sharpsign
      • 2.4.8.1 Sharpsign Backslash
      • 2.4.8.2 Sharpsign Single-Quote
      • 2.4.8.3 Sharpsign Left-Parenthesis
      • 2.4.8.4 Sharpsign Asterisk
      • 2.4.8.4.1 Examples of Sharpsign Asterisk
      • 2.4.8.5 Sharpsign Colon
      • 2.4.8.6 Sharpsign Dot
      • 2.4.8.7 Sharpsign B
      • 2.4.8.8 Sharpsign O
      • 2.4.8.9 Sharpsign X
      • 2.4.8.10 Sharpsign R
      • 2.4.8.11 Sharpsign C
      • 2.4.8.12 Sharpsign A
      • 2.4.8.13 Sharpsign S
      • 2.4.8.14 Sharpsign P
      • 2.4.8.15 Sharpsign Equal-Sign
      • 2.4.8.16 Sharpsign Sharpsign
      • 2.4.8.17 Sharpsign Plus
      • 2.4.8.18 Sharpsign Minus
      • 2.4.8.19 Sharpsign Vertical-Bar
      • 2.4.8.19.1 Examples of Sharpsign Vertical-Bar
      • 2.4.8.19.2 Notes about Style for Sharpsign Vertical-Bar
      • 2.4.8.20 Sharpsign Less-Than-Sign
      • 2.4.8.21 Sharpsign Whitespace
      • 2.4.8.22 Sharpsign Right-Parenthesis
    • 2.4.9 Re-Reading Abbreviated Expressions
• 3 Evaluation and Compilation
  • 3.1 Evaluation
    • 3.1.1 Introduction to Environments
      • 3.1.1.1 The Global Environment
      • 3.1.1.2 Dynamic Environments
      • 3.1.1.3 Lexical Environments
      • 3.1.1.3.1 The Null Lexical Environment
      • 3.1.1.4 Environment Objects
    • 3.1.2 The Evaluation Model
      • 3.1.2.1 Form Evaluation
      • 3.1.2.1.1 Symbols as Forms
      • 3.1.2.1.1.1 Lexical Variables
      • 3.1.2.1.1.2 Dynamic Variables
      • 3.1.2.1.1.3 Constant Variables
      • 3.1.2.1.1.4 Symbols Naming Both Lexical and Dynamic Variables
      • 3.1.2.1.2 Conses as Forms
      • 3.1.2.1.2.1 Special Forms
      • 3.1.2.1.2.2 Macro Forms
      • 3.1.2.1.2.3 Function Forms
      • 3.1.2.1.2.4 Lambda Forms
      • 3.1.2.1.3 Self-Evaluating Objects
      • 3.1.2.1.3.1 Examples of Self-Evaluating Objects
    • 3.1.3 Lambda Expressions
    • 3.1.4 Closures and Lexical Binding
    • 3.1.5 Shadowing
    • 3.1.6 Extent
    • 3.1.7 Return Values
  • 3.2 Compilation
    • 3.2.1 Compiler Terminology
    • 3.2.2 Compilation Semantics
      • 3.2.2.1 Compiler Macros
      • 3.2.2.1.1 Purpose of Compiler Macros
      • 3.2.2.1.2 Naming of Compiler Macros
      • 3.2.2.1.3 When Compiler Macros Are Used
      • 3.2.2.1.3.1 Notes about the Implementation of Compiler Macros
      • 3.2.2.2 Minimal Compilation
      • 3.2.2.3 Semantic Constraints
    • 3.2.3 File Compilation
      • 3.2.3.1 Processing of Top Level Forms
      • 3.2.3.1.1 Processing of Defining Macros
      • 3.2.3.1.2 Constraints on Macros and Compiler Macros
    • 3.2.4 Literal Objects in Compiled Files
      • 3.2.4.1 Externalizable Objects
      • 3.2.4.2 Similarity of Literal Objects
      • 3.2.4.2.1 Similarity of Aggregate Objects
      • 3.2.4.2.2 Definition of Similarity
      • 3.2.4.3 Extensions to Similarity Rules
      • 3.2.4.4 Additional Constraints on Externalizable Objects
    • 3.2.5 Exceptional Situations in the Compiler
  • 3.3 Declarations
    • 3.3.1 Minimal Declaration Processing Requirements
    • 3.3.2 Declaration Specifiers
    • 3.3.3 Declaration Identifiers
      • 3.3.3.1 Shorthand notation for Type Declarations
    • 3.3.4 Declaration Scope
      • 3.3.4.1 Examples of Declaration Scope
  • 3.4 Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.1 Ordinary Lambda Lists
      • 3.4.1.1 Specifiers for the required parameters
      • 3.4.1.2 Specifiers for optional parameters
      • 3.4.1.3 A specifier for a rest parameter
      • 3.4.1.4 Specifiers for keyword parameters
      • 3.4.1.4.1 Suppressing Keyword Argument Checking
      • 3.4.1.4.1.1 Examples of Suppressing Keyword Argument Checking
      • 3.4.1.5 Specifiers for &aux variables
      • 3.4.1.6 Examples of Ordinary Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.2 Generic Function Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.3 Specialized Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.4 Macro Lambda Lists
      • 3.4.4.1 Destructuring by Lambda Lists
      • 3.4.4.1.1 Data-directed Destructuring by Lambda Lists
      • 3.4.4.1.1.1 Examples of Data-directed Destructuring by Lambda Lists
      • 3.4.4.1.2 Lambda-list-directed Destructuring by Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.5 Destructuring Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.6 Boa Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.7 Defsetf Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.8 Deftype Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.9 Define-modify-macro Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.10 Define-method-combination Arguments Lambda Lists
    • 3.4.11 Syntactic Interaction of Documentation Strings and Declarations
  • 3.5 Error Checking in Function Calls
    • 3.5.1 Argument Mismatch Detection
      • 3.5.1.1 Safe and Unsafe Calls
      • 3.5.1.1.1 Error Detection Time in Safe Calls
      • 3.5.1.2 Too Few Arguments
      • 3.5.1.3 Too Many Arguments
      • 3.5.1.4 Unrecognized Keyword Arguments
      • 3.5.1.5 Invalid Keyword Arguments
      • 3.5.1.6 Odd Number of Keyword Arguments
      • 3.5.1.7 Destructuring Mismatch
      • 3.5.1.8 Errors When Calling a Next Method
  • 3.6 Traversal Rules and Side Effects
  • 3.7 Destructive Operations
    • 3.7.1 Modification of Literal Objects
    • 3.7.2 Transfer of Control during a Destructive Operation
      • 3.7.2.1 Examples of Transfer of Control during a Destructive Operation
• 4 Types and Classes
  • 4.1 Introduction to Types and Classes
  • 4.2 Types
    • 4.2.1 Data Type Definition
    • 4.2.2 Type Relationships
    • 4.2.3 Type Specifiers
  • 4.3 Classes
    • 4.3.1 Introduction to Classes
      • 4.3.1.1 Standard Metaclasses
    • 4.3.2 Defining Classes
    • 4.3.3 Creating Instances of Classes
    • 4.3.4 Inheritance
      • 4.3.4.1 Examples of Inheritance
      • 4.3.4.2 Inheritance of Class Options
    • 4.3.5 Determining the Class Precedence List
      • 4.3.5.1 Topological Sorting
      • 4.3.5.2 Examples of Class Precedence List Determination
    • 4.3.6 Redefining Classes
      • 4.3.6.1 Modifying the Structure of Instances
      • 4.3.6.2 Initializing Newly Added Local Slots
      • 4.3.6.3 Customizing Class Redefinition
    • 4.3.7 Integrating Types and Classes
• 5 Data and Control Flow
  • 5.1 Generalized Reference
    • 5.1.1 Overview of Places and Generalized Reference
      • 5.1.1.1 Evaluation of Subforms to Places
      • 5.1.1.1.1 Examples of Evaluation of Subforms to Places
      • 5.1.1.2 Setf Expansions
      • 5.1.1.2.1 Examples of Setf Expansions
    • 5.1.2 Kinds of Places
      • 5.1.2.1 Variable Names as Places
      • 5.1.2.2 Function Call Forms as Places
      • 5.1.2.3 VALUES Forms as Places
      • 5.1.2.4 THE Forms as Places
      • 5.1.2.5 APPLY Forms as Places
      • 5.1.2.6 Setf Expansions and Places
      • 5.1.2.7 Macro Forms as Places
      • 5.1.2.8 Symbol Macros as Places
      • 5.1.2.9 Other Compound Forms as Places
    • 5.1.3 Treatment of Other Macros Based on SETF
  • 5.2 Transfer of Control to an Exit Point
• 6 Iteration
  • 6.1 The LOOP Facility
    • 6.1.1 Overview of the Loop Facility
      • 6.1.1.1 Simple vs Extended Loop
      • 6.1.1.1.1 Simple Loop
      • 6.1.1.1.2 Extended Loop
      • 6.1.1.2 Loop Keywords
      • 6.1.1.3 Parsing Loop Clauses
      • 6.1.1.4 Expanding Loop Forms
      • 6.1.1.5 Summary of Loop Clauses
      • 6.1.1.5.1 Summary of Variable Initialization and Stepping Clauses
      • 6.1.1.5.2 Summary of Value Accumulation Clauses
      • 6.1.1.5.3 Summary of Termination Test Clauses
      • 6.1.1.5.4 Summary of Unconditional Execution Clauses
      • 6.1.1.5.5 Summary of Conditional Execution Clauses
      • 6.1.1.5.6 Summary of Miscellaneous Clauses
      • 6.1.1.6 Order of Execution
      • 6.1.1.7 Destructuring
      • 6.1.1.8 Restrictions on Side-Effects
    • 6.1.2 Variable Initialization and Stepping Clauses
      • 6.1.2.1 Iteration Control
      • 6.1.2.1.1 The for-as-arithmetic subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.1.1 Examples of for-as-arithmetic subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.2 The for-as-in-list subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.2.1 Examples of for-as-in-list subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.3 The for-as-on-list subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.3.1 Examples of for-as-on-list subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.4 The for-as-equals-then subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.4.1 Examples of for-as-equals-then subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.5 The for-as-across subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.5.1 Examples of for-as-across subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.6 The for-as-hash subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.7 The for-as-package subclause
      • 6.1.2.1.7.1 Examples of for-as-package subclause
      • 6.1.2.2 Local Variable Initializations
      • 6.1.2.2.1 Examples of WITH clause
    • 6.1.3 Value Accumulation Clauses
      • 6.1.3.1 Examples of COLLECT clause
      • 6.1.3.2 Examples of APPEND and NCONC clauses
      • 6.1.3.3 Examples of COUNT clause
      • 6.1.3.4 Examples of MAXIMIZE and MINIMIZE clauses
      • 6.1.3.5 Examples of SUM clause
    • 6.1.4 Termination Test Clauses
      • 6.1.4.1 Examples of REPEAT clause
      • 6.1.4.2 Examples of ALWAYS, NEVER, and THEREIS clauses
      • 6.1.4.3 Examples of WHILE and UNTIL clauses
    • 6.1.5 Unconditional Execution Clauses
      • 6.1.5.1 Examples of unconditional execution
    • 6.1.6 Conditional Execution Clauses
      • 6.1.6.1 Examples of WHEN clause
    • 6.1.7 Miscellaneous Clauses
      • 6.1.7.1 Control Transfer Clauses
      • 6.1.7.1.1 Examples of NAMED clause
      • 6.1.7.2 Initial and Final Execution
    • 6.1.8 Examples of Miscellaneous Loop Features
      • 6.1.8.1 Examples of clause grouping
    • 6.1.9 Notes about Loop
• 7 Objects
  • 7.1 Object Creation and Initialization
    • 7.1.1 Initialization Arguments
    • 7.1.2 Declaring the Validity of Initialization Arguments
    • 7.1.3 Defaulting of Initialization Arguments
    • 7.1.4 Rules for Initialization Arguments
    • 7.1.5 Shared-Initialize
    • 7.1.6 Initialize-Instance
    • 7.1.7 Definitions of Make-Instance and Initialize-Instance
  • 7.2 Changing the Class of an Instance
    • 7.2.1 Modifying the Structure of the Instance
    • 7.2.2 Initializing Newly Added Local Slots
    • 7.2.3 Customizing the Change of Class of an Instance
  • 7.3 Reinitializing an Instance
    • 7.3.1 Customizing Reinitialization
  • 7.4 Meta-Objects
    • 7.4.1 Standard Meta-objects
  • 7.5 Slots
    • 7.5.1 Introduction to Slots
    • 7.5.2 Accessing Slots
    • 7.5.3 Inheritance of Slots and Slot Options
  • 7.6 Generic Functions and Methods
    • 7.6.1 Introduction to Generic Functions
    • 7.6.2 Introduction to Methods
    • 7.6.3 Agreement on Parameter Specializers and Qualifiers
    • 7.6.4 Congruent Lambda-lists for all Methods of a Generic Function
    • 7.6.5 Keyword Arguments in Generic Functions and Methods
      • 7.6.5.1 Examples of Keyword Arguments in Generic Functions and Methods
    • 7.6.6 Method Selection and Combination
      • 7.6.6.1 Determining the Effective Method
      • 7.6.6.1.1 Selecting the Applicable Methods
      • 7.6.6.1.2 Sorting the Applicable Methods by Precedence Order
      • 7.6.6.1.3 Applying method combination to the sorted list of applicable methods
      • 7.6.6.2 Standard Method Combination
      • 7.6.6.3 Declarative Method Combination
      • 7.6.6.4 Built-in Method Combination Types
    • 7.6.7 Inheritance of Methods
• 8 Structures
• 9 Conditions
  • 9.1 Condition System Concepts
    • 9.1.1 Condition Types
      • 9.1.1.1 Serious Conditions
    • 9.1.2 Creating Conditions
      • 9.1.2.1 Condition Designators
    • 9.1.3 Printing Conditions
      • 9.1.3.1 Recommended Style in Condition Reporting
      • 9.1.3.1.1 Capitalization and Punctuation in Condition Reports
      • 9.1.3.1.2 Leading and Trailing Newlines in Condition Reports
      • 9.1.3.1.3 Embedded Newlines in Condition Reports
      • 9.1.3.1.4 Note about Tabs in Condition Reports
      • 9.1.3.1.5 Mentioning Containing Function in Condition Reports
    • 9.1.4 Signaling and Handling Conditions
      • 9.1.4.1 Signaling
      • 9.1.4.1.1 Resignaling a Condition
      • 9.1.4.2 Restarts
      • 9.1.4.2.1 Interactive Use of Restarts
      • 9.1.4.2.2 Interfaces to Restarts
      • 9.1.4.2.3 Restart Tests
      • 9.1.4.2.4 Associating a Restart with a Condition
    • 9.1.5 Assertions
    • 9.1.6 Notes about the Condition System's Background
• 10 Symbols
  • 10.1 Symbol Concepts
• 11 Packages
  • 11.1 Package Concepts
    • 11.1.1 Introduction to Packages
      • 11.1.1.1 Package Names and Nicknames
      • 11.1.1.2 Symbols in a Package
      • 11.1.1.2.1 Internal and External Symbols
      • 11.1.1.2.2 Package Inheritance
      • 11.1.1.2.3 Accessibility of Symbols in a Package
      • 11.1.1.2.4 Locating a Symbol in a Package
      • 11.1.1.2.5 Prevention of Name Conflicts in Packages
    • 11.1.2 Standardized Packages
      • 11.1.2.1 The COMMON-LISP Package
      • 11.1.2.1.1 Constraints on the COMMON-LISP Package for Conforming Implementations
      • 11.1.2.1.2 Constraints on the COMMON-LISP Package for Conforming Programs
      • 11.1.2.1.2.1 Some Exceptions to Constraints on the COMMON-LISP Package for Conforming Programs
      • 11.1.2.2 The COMMON-LISP-USER Package
      • 11.1.2.3 The KEYWORD Package
      • 11.1.2.3.1 Interning a Symbol in the KEYWORD Package
      • 11.1.2.3.2 Notes about The KEYWORD Package
      • 11.1.2.4 Implementation-Defined Packages
• 12 Numbers
  • 12.1 Number Concepts
    • 12.1.1 Numeric Operations
      • 12.1.1.1 Associativity and Commutativity in Numeric Operations
      • 12.1.1.1.1 Examples of Associativity and Commutativity in Numeric Operations
      • 12.1.1.2 Contagion in Numeric Operations
      • 12.1.1.3 Viewing Integers as Bits and Bytes
      • 12.1.1.3.1 Logical Operations on Integers
      • 12.1.1.3.2 Byte Operations on Integers
    • 12.1.2 Implementation-Dependent Numeric Constants
    • 12.1.3 Rational Computations
      • 12.1.3.1 Rule of Unbounded Rational Precision
      • 12.1.3.2 Rule of Canonical Representation for Rationals
      • 12.1.3.3 Rule of Float Substitutability
    • 12.1.4 Floating-point Computations
      • 12.1.4.1 Rule of Float and Rational Contagion
      • 12.1.4.1.1 Examples of Rule of Float and Rational Contagion
      • 12.1.4.2 Rule of Float Approximation
      • 12.1.4.3 Rule of Float Underflow and Overflow
      • 12.1.4.4 Rule of Float Precision Contagion
    • 12.1.5 Complex Computations
      • 12.1.5.1 Rule of Complex Substitutability
      • 12.1.5.2 Rule of Complex Contagion
      • 12.1.5.3 Rule of Canonical Representation for Complex Rationals
      • 12.1.5.3.1 Examples of Rule of Canonical Representation for Complex Rationals
      • 12.1.5.4 Principal Values and Branch Cuts
    • 12.1.6 Interval Designators
    • 12.1.7 Random-State Operations
• 13 Characters
  • 13.1 Character Concepts
    • 13.1.1 Introduction to Characters
    • 13.1.2 Introduction to Scripts and Repertoires
      • 13.1.2.1 Character Scripts
      • 13.1.2.2 Character Repertoires
    • 13.1.3 Character Attributes
    • 13.1.4 Character Categories
      • 13.1.4.1 Graphic Characters
      • 13.1.4.2 Alphabetic Characters
      • 13.1.4.3 Characters With Case
      • 13.1.4.3.1 Uppercase Characters
      • 13.1.4.3.2 Lowercase Characters
      • 13.1.4.3.3 Corresponding Characters in the Other Case
      • 13.1.4.3.4 Case of Implementation-Defined Characters
      • 13.1.4.4 Numeric Characters
      • 13.1.4.5 Alphanumeric Characters
      • 13.1.4.6 Digits in a Radix
    • 13.1.5 Identity of Characters
    • 13.1.6 Ordering of Characters
    • 13.1.7 Character Names
    • 13.1.8 Treatment of Newline during Input and Output
    • 13.1.9 Character Encodings
    • 13.1.10 Documentation of Implementation-Defined Scripts
• 14 Conses
  • 14.1 Cons Concepts
    • 14.1.1 Conses as Trees
      • 14.1.1.1 General Restrictions on Parameters that must be Trees
    • 14.1.2 Conses as Lists
      • 14.1.2.1 Lists as Association Lists
      • 14.1.2.2 Lists as Sets
      • 14.1.2.3 General Restrictions on Parameters that must be Lists
• 15 Arrays
  • 15.1 Array Concepts
    • 15.1.1 Array Elements
      • 15.1.1.1 Array Indices
      • 15.1.1.2 Array Dimensions
      • 15.1.1.2.1 Implementation Limits on Individual Array Dimensions
      • 15.1.1.3 Array Rank
      • 15.1.1.3.1 Vectors
      • 15.1.1.3.1.1 Fill Pointers
      • 15.1.1.3.2 Multidimensional Arrays
      • 15.1.1.3.2.1 Storage Layout for Multidimensional Arrays
      • 15.1.1.3.2.2 Implementation Limits on Array Rank
    • 15.1.2 Specialized Arrays
      • 15.1.2.1 Array Upgrading
      • 15.1.2.2 Required Kinds of Specialized Arrays
• 16 Strings
  • 16.1 String Concepts
    • 16.1.1 Implications of Strings Being Arrays
    • 16.1.2 Subtypes of STRING
• 17 Sequences
  • 17.1 Sequence Concepts
    • 17.1.1 General Restrictions on Parameters that must be Sequences
  • 17.2 Rules about Test Functions
    • 17.2.1 Satisfying a Two-Argument Test
      • 17.2.1.1 Examples of Satisfying a Two-Argument Test
    • 17.2.2 Satisfying a One-Argument Test
      • 17.2.2.1 Examples of Satisfying a One-Argument Test
• 18 Hash Tables
  • 18.1 Hash Table Concepts
    • 18.1.1 Hash-Table Operations
    • 18.1.2 Modifying Hash Table Keys
      • 18.1.2.1 Visible Modification of Objects with respect to EQ and EQL
      • 18.1.2.2 Visible Modification of Objects with respect to EQUAL
      • 18.1.2.2.1 Visible Modification of Conses with respect to EQUAL
      • 18.1.2.2.2 Visible Modification of Bit Vectors and Strings with respect to EQUAL
      • 18.1.2.3 Visible Modification of Objects with respect to EQUALP
      • 18.1.2.3.1 Visible Modification of Structures with respect to EQUALP
      • 18.1.2.3.2 Visible Modification of Arrays with respect to EQUALP
      • 18.1.2.3.3 Visible Modification of Hash Tables with respect to EQUALP
      • 18.1.2.4 Visible Modifications by Language Extensions
• 19 Filenames
  • 19.1 Overview of Filenames
    • 19.1.1 Namestrings as Filenames
    • 19.1.2 Pathnames as Filenames
    • 19.1.3 Parsing Namestrings Into Pathnames
  • 19.2 Pathnames
    • 19.2.1 Pathname Components
      • 19.2.1.1 The Pathname Host Component
      • 19.2.1.2 The Pathname Device Component
      • 19.2.1.3 The Pathname Directory Component
      • 19.2.1.4 The Pathname Name Component
      • 19.2.1.5 The Pathname Type Component
      • 19.2.1.6 The Pathname Version Component
    • 19.2.2 Interpreting Pathname Component Values
      • 19.2.2.1 Strings in Component Values
      • 19.2.2.1.1 Special Characters in Pathname Components
      • 19.2.2.1.2 Case in Pathname Components
      • 19.2.2.1.2.1 Local Case in Pathname Components
      • 19.2.2.1.2.2 Common Case in Pathname Components
      • 19.2.2.2 Special Pathname Component Values
      • 19.2.2.2.1 NIL as a Component Value
      • 19.2.2.2.2 :WILD as a Component Value
      • 19.2.2.2.3 :UNSPECIFIC as a Component Value
      • 19.2.2.2.3.1 Relation between component values NIL and :UNSPECIFIC
      • 19.2.2.3 Restrictions on Wildcard Pathnames
      • 19.2.2.4 Restrictions on Examining Pathname Components
      • 19.2.2.4.1 Restrictions on Examining a Pathname Host Component
      • 19.2.2.4.2 Restrictions on Examining a Pathname Device Component
      • 19.2.2.4.3 Restrictions on Examining a Pathname Directory Component
      • 19.2.2.4.3.1 Directory Components in Non-Hierarchical File Systems
      • 19.2.2.4.4 Restrictions on Examining a Pathname Name Component
      • 19.2.2.4.5 Restrictions on Examining a Pathname Type Component
      • 19.2.2.4.6 Restrictions on Examining a Pathname Version Component
      • 19.2.2.4.7 Notes about the Pathname Version Component
      • 19.2.2.5 Restrictions on Constructing Pathnames
    • 19.2.3 Merging Pathnames
      • 19.2.3.1 Examples of Merging Pathnames
  • 19.3 Logical Pathnames
    • 19.3.1 Syntax of Logical Pathname Namestrings
      • 19.3.1.1 Additional Information about Parsing Logical Pathname Namestrings
      • 19.3.1.1.1 The Host part of a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.2 The Device part of a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.3 The Directory part of a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.4 The Type part of a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.5 The Version part of a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.6 Wildcard Words in a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.7 Lowercase Letters in a Logical Pathname Namestring
      • 19.3.1.1.8 Other Syntax in a Logical Pathname Namestring
    • 19.3.2 Logical Pathname Components
      • 19.3.2.1 Unspecific Components of a Logical Pathname
      • 19.3.2.2 Null Strings as Components of a Logical Pathname
• 20 Files
  • 20.1 File System Concepts
    • 20.1.1 Coercion of Streams to Pathnames
    • 20.1.2 File Operations on Open and Closed Streams
    • 20.1.3 Truenames
      • 20.1.3.1 Examples of Truenames
• 21 Streams
  • 21.1 Stream Concepts
    • 21.1.1 Introduction to Streams
      • 21.1.1.1 Abstract Classifications of Streams
      • 21.1.1.1.1 Input, Output, and Bidirectional Streams
      • 21.1.1.1.2 Open and Closed Streams
      • 21.1.1.1.3 Interactive Streams
      • 21.1.1.2 Abstract Classifications of Streams
      • 21.1.1.2.4 File Streams
      • 21.1.1.3 Other Subclasses of Stream
    • 21.1.2 Stream Variables
    • 21.1.3 Stream Arguments to Standardized Functions
    • 21.1.4 Restrictions on Composite Streams
• 22 Printer
  • 22.1 The Lisp Printer
    • 22.1.1 Overview of The Lisp Printer
      • 22.1.1.1 Multiple Possible Textual Representations
      • 22.1.1.1.1 Printer Escaping
    • 22.1.2 Printer Dispatching
    • 22.1.3 Default Print-Object Methods
      • 22.1.3.1 Printing Numbers
      • 22.1.3.1.1 Printing Integers
      • 22.1.3.1.2 Printing Ratios
      • 22.1.3.1.3 Printing Floats
      • 22.1.3.1.4 Printing Complexes
      • 22.1.3.1.5 Note about Printing Numbers
      • 22.1.3.2 Printing Characters
      • 22.1.3.3 Printing Symbols
      • 22.1.3.3.1 Package Prefixes for Symbols
      • 22.1.3.3.2 Effect of Readtable Case on the Lisp Printer
      • 22.1.3.3.2.1 Examples of Effect of Readtable Case on the Lisp Printer
      • 22.1.3.4 Printing Strings
      • 22.1.3.5 Printing Lists and Conses
      • 22.1.3.6 Printing Bit Vectors
      • 22.1.3.7 Printing Other Vectors
      • 22.1.3.8 Printing Other Arrays
      • 22.1.3.9 Examples of Printing Arrays
      • 22.1.3.10 Printing Random States
      • 22.1.3.11 Printing Pathnames
      • 22.1.3.12 Printing Structures
      • 22.1.3.13 Printing Other Objects
    • 22.1.4 Examples of Printer Behavior
  • 22.2 The Lisp Pretty Printer
    • 22.2.1 Pretty Printer Concepts
      • 22.2.1.1 Dynamic Control of the Arrangement of Output
      • 22.2.1.2 Format Directive Interface
      • 22.2.1.3 Compiling Format Strings
      • 22.2.1.4 Pretty Print Dispatch Tables
      • 22.2.1.5 Pretty Printer Margins
    • 22.2.2 Examples of using the Pretty Printer
    • 22.2.3 Notes about the Pretty Printer's Background
  • 22.3 Formatted Output
    • 22.3.1 FORMAT Basic Output
      • 22.3.1.1 Tilde C: Character
      • 22.3.1.2 Tilde Percent: Newline
      • 22.3.1.3 Tilde Ampersand: Fresh-Line
      • 22.3.1.4 Tilde Vertical-Bar: Page
      • 22.3.1.5 Tilde Tilde: Tilde
    • 22.3.2 FORMAT Radix Control
      • 22.3.2.1 Tilde R: Radix
      • 22.3.2.2 Tilde D: Decimal
      • 22.3.2.3 Tilde B: Binary
      • 22.3.2.4 Tilde O: Octal
      • 22.3.2.5 Tilde X: Hexadecimal
    • 22.3.3 FORMAT Floating-Point Printers
      • 22.3.3.1 Tilde F: Fixed-Format Floating-Point
      • 22.3.3.2 Tilde E: Exponential Floating-Point
      • 22.3.3.3 Tilde G: General Floating-Point
      • 22.3.3.4 Tilde Dollarsign: Monetary Floating-Point
    • 22.3.4 FORMAT Printer Operations
      • 22.3.4.1 Tilde A: Aesthetic
      • 22.3.4.2 Tilde S: Standard
      • 22.3.4.3 Tilde W: Write
    • 22.3.5 FORMAT Pretty Printer Operations
      • 22.3.5.1 Tilde Underscore: Conditional Newline
      • 22.3.5.2 Tilde Less-Than-Sign: Logical Block
      • 22.3.5.3 Tilde I: Indent
      • 22.3.5.4 Tilde Slash: Call Function
    • 22.3.6 FORMAT Layout Control
      • 22.3.6.1 Tilde T: Tabulate
      • 22.3.6.2 Tilde Less-Than-Sign: Justification
      • 22.3.6.3 Tilde Greater-Than-Sign: End of Justification
    • 22.3.7 FORMAT Control-Flow Operations
      • 22.3.7.1 Tilde Asterisk: Go-To
      • 22.3.7.2 Tilde Left-Bracket: Conditional Expression
      • 22.3.7.3 Tilde Right-Bracket: End of Conditional Expression
      • 22.3.7.4 Tilde Left-Brace: Iteration
      • 22.3.7.5 Tilde Right-Brace: End of Iteration
      • 22.3.7.6 Tilde Question-Mark: Recursive Processing
    • 22.3.8 FORMAT Miscellaneous Operations
      • 22.3.8.1 Tilde Left-Paren: Case Conversion
      • 22.3.8.2 Tilde Right-Paren: End of Case Conversion
      • 22.3.8.3 Tilde P: Plural
    • 22.3.9 FORMAT Miscellaneous Pseudo-Operations
      • 22.3.9.1 Tilde Semicolon: Clause Separator
      • 22.3.9.2 Tilde Circumflex: Escape Upward
      • 22.3.9.3 Tilde Newline: Ignored Newline
    • 22.3.10 Additional Information about FORMAT Operations
      • 22.3.10.1 Nesting of FORMAT Operations
      • 22.3.10.2 Missing and Additional FORMAT Arguments
      • 22.3.10.3 Additional FORMAT Parameters
      • 22.3.10.4 Undefined FORMAT Modifier Combinations
    • 22.3.11 Examples of FORMAT
    • 22.3.12 Notes about FORMAT
• 23 Reader
  • 23.1 Reader Concepts
    • 23.1.1 Dynamic Control of the Lisp Reader
    • 23.1.2 Effect of Readtable Case on the Lisp Reader
      • 23.1.2.1 Examples of Effect of Readtable Case on the Lisp Reader
    • 23.1.3 Argument Conventions of Some Reader Functions
      • 23.1.3.1 The EOF-ERROR-P argument
      • 23.1.3.2 The RECURSIVE-P argument
• 24 System Construction
  • 24.1 System Construction Concepts
    • 24.1.1 Loading
    • 24.1.2 Features
      • 24.1.2.1 Feature Expressions
      • 24.1.2.1.1 Examples of Feature Expressions
• 25 Environment
  • 25.1 The External Environment
    • 25.1.1 Top level loop
    • 25.1.2 Debugging Utilities
    • 25.1.3 Environment Inquiry
    • 25.1.4 Time
      • 25.1.4.1 Decoded Time
      • 25.1.4.2 Universal Time
      • 25.1.4.3 Internal Time
      • 25.1.4.4 Seconds
• 26 Glossary
  • 26.1 Glossary Notation
  • Non-alphabetic
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • Y
• Appendix A Appendix
  • A.1 Removed Language Features
    • A.1.1 Requirements for removed and deprecated features
    • A.1.2 Removed Types
    • A.1.3 Removed Operators
    • A.1.4 Removed Argument Conventions
    • A.1.5 Removed Variables
    • A.1.6 Removed Reader Syntax
    • A.1.7 Packages No Longer Required
• Index
• Symbol Index
• List of Figures