1. Symbols and Packages
Symbols are one of the most important building blocks of COMMON LISP. Many other programming languages either don’t have symbols, or if they have them, they are just one of many data types. But in Lisp, symbols play a central role because they are used to name things like variables and functions, are indispensable in macros, but are also objects in their own right. Thus, they deserve some attention.
Although symbols are superficially easy to “get,” they are complicated compound objects under the hood, so if you want to use them in advanced ways, a deeper understanding of them and their interaction with packages is necessary. That’s what main parts of this chapter are about.1
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