Re: perhaps I've missed something ...

[sperber@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Michael Sperber [Mr. Preprocessor])]

>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Livshin <mlivshin@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Michael> sperber@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Michael Sperber [Mr. Preprocessor]) writes:

me> 1. what I, in my naivete about PL design, take "set!" to be?
>> 
me> (set! <name> <value>) translates, in my mind, to: dear Scheme, please
me> make it so that next time I say <name>, and <name> denotes the same
Michael>                                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
me> thing as now, I get <value>.
Michael>       ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> 
>> But this intuition is wrong

Michael> I think you missed the now-underlined part.

No, I didn't.  What is the semantics of "denotes the same thing"?
You're effectively saying, "Next time I ask for the same thing, give
me something different."  What does that mean?  I understand what you
mean, but it requires an explanation which is considerably more
elaborate.  That explanation in turn makes clear the difference.

>> This is precisely the case students struggle with.

Well, sorry.  It's not their fault.

-- 
Cheers =8-} Mike
Friede, Völkerverständigung und überhaupt blabla