A comment on packages (at the risk of being a fool)

[David A. Moon <Moon@SCRC-STONY-BROOK.ARPA>]

    Date: Thu, 11 Apr 85 09:11:31 EST
    From: greek@DEC-HUDSON

    We've had lots of discussion on the differences being interpreting
    and compiling when using symbols without package prefixes.

    I believe the rule with the slow loader is that an unqualified
    symbol is loaded into the current package, which may or may not
    have been established with an IN-PACKAGE at the top of the file.
    Why doesn't the compiler simply do the same thing?

    Namely, it sets the current package to "SPECIAL-COMPILER-PACKAGE-NO-ONE-
    ELSE-CAN-USE".  Then it read/compiles the file and arranges that any
    symbols in that special package will be fast loaded into what is then
    the current package.  If the user has an IN-PACKAGE at the top of the
    file, then no symbols will end up in that special package -- fine.

    Am I missing something?

Think about executing, at compile time, the bodies of macros defined in the file.