[CM] Bug in (apply set! ..)

bil at ccrma.Stanford.EDU bil at ccrma.Stanford.EDU
Mon Feb 21 15:06:12 PST 2022


I don't immediately see the bug.

apply evaluates all its arguments, and set! evaluates
its second argument, so

   (define x 'foo)
   (apply set! 'x 'bar ())

becomes (#_set! x bar), but bar is not defined when
evaluated by set! Similarly

   (define bar 'the-bar)
   (apply set! 'x bar ()) ; bar is not quoted -> 'the-bar

becomes (#_set! x the-bar) because bar evaluates to the-bar
which set! tries to evaluate (as a symbol), but it is not
defined.

   (apply set! 'x 'bar ())

becomes (#_set! x bar) where bar is 'the-bar, so
x is set to 'the-bar, so (eq? x 'the-bar) is #t.
There is one level of evaluation here for the
car (set! -> #_set!) and the target of set!, but
two levels for the value (apply does one, and
set! the other).



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