Bugs in Common LISPcraft

[Michael Sierchio <sierchio@mcc.com>]

I just wanted to point out some errors in the book Common LISPcraft
by Robert Wilensky (Norton 1986).

The book is entirely praiseworthy in its exposition of Common Lisp,
both for beginners and pros in other Lisp dialects.  However, there
are two errors that I have spotted that might make it difficult for
novices to understand a few basic points.

On page 75, there is a sample function, and commentary beneath it.
The 4th text paragraph refers to a conditional test "(null ll)".
The expression in the function definition actually reads "(atom ll)".
This is the intended statement, by the way. It's the text that's wrong.
(atom ll) will, of course, return t if ll is an empty list.

On page 153, there is a sample expression describing the use of "(let ..)".
It reads:

	(let ((temp (func1 x y z))
		(func2 temp)
		(func3 temp))


There's a paren missing, which is a normal occurance in Lisping -- however,
since this means incorrect syntax, and is likely to confuse the poor
reader, it is worth noting as an error. It should read:

        (let ((temp (func1 x y z)))
                (func2 temp)      ^
                (func3 temp))     |
				  (the missing paren)

There are other typos, but none that a reader of English should have
trouble with.

This is not meant to be a complete list of errors.  I will post any
other major ones that I find.  Someone at Cal Berkeley could do me
the favor of pointing this out to Wilensky.

(tell Norton and anyone who's listening that I'm available for 
editing any or all computer books!)





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	Michael Sierchio @ MCC Software Technology Program

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