Re: preprocessor-based Common Lisps

[smh@mit-ems (Steven Haflich)]

Just for the record, COMPILE-FILE must read the source file with
READ because otherwise EVAL-WHEN and reader macros would have a
difficult time of it.  See CLtL p.69 under EVAL-WHEN:
	"... a model of how the compiler processes forms in a file
	to be compiled.  Successive forms are read from the file
	using the function READ."
Even though this is only a "model", I take it to mean that the
actual implementation must provide the same semantics, and thus
should be indestinguishable from READ (except, perhaps, with
regard to things like (TRACE READ) ).