[racket] Use of map and eval to evaluate symbol in namespace

Neil, I think that would be a wonderful service that you could script as a little Racket daemon. It could broadcast this message every quarter or so (as an addendum to PLT Design Inc's financial statement) and the broadcast could take different shapes and forms and use different words (FAQ, TLL style, The Essayist style, etc). Wanna do it :-) 

-- Matthias



On Jul 27, 2014, at 3:16 PM, Neil Van Dyke wrote:

> Maybe there should be a periodic public service announcement about not using "eval".  This time I will communicate in FAQ format:
> 
> Q: How do I use eval?
> A: Don't use eval.
> 
> Q: But don't so many academic books feature eval prominently, so doesn't that mean I should use try to eval?
> A: Those books use eval for pedagogic reasons, or because the author is enamored of some theoretical appeal of eval, or because the author wants to watch the world burn.  Don't use eval.
> 
> Q: But, but, but, I am just starting to learn, and eval seems to do what I need.
> A: Eval is almost certainly not what you want.  Learn how to use the other basics effectively.  Don't use eval.
> 
> Q: I now am very comfortable with the language, I am aware that I should avoid eval in almost all cases, and I can tell you why eval is actually the right thing in this highly unusual case.
> A: Cool, that's why eval is there.
> 
> Neil V.
> 
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