(define a 5) (set-object-property! (module-variable (current-module) 'a) 'documentation "The variable a contains a number.")
? On Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:29 AM Jean Abou Samra <j...@abou-samra.fr> wrote: > Le 02/11/2022 à 02:08, Jacob Hrbek a écrit : > > The ability to document variables is critical for many projects such > > as libfive where the variables is used to declares functional computer > > aided design structure and other projects where variables influence > > the workflow. > > > > Thus proposing to change the 'define' behavior for variables to > implement: > > > > (define variable default-value docstring) > > ^^^^^^ > > > > Where docstring is optional and in case it's provided to call for > example: > > > > (set-procedure-property! variable 'documentation docstring) > > > > > The problem is that in Scheme, you cannot attach metadata to immediate > values. According to the Scheme standards and the Guile documentation, > > > (define a 5) > (define b 5) > > (eq? a b) => may be #t or #f > (eq? a a) => may be #t or #f > > > So it's considerably more complicated than using an object property, > because that would not work reliably for variables defined to immediates > like numbers and characters. Instead you would need to attach the > metadata to the name you're defining the variable to, like Elisp does, > but unlike Guile does with procedures right now, and it's not as simple > in Scheme due to lexical scoping. > > Best, > Jean > > >
