Using parenscript set-interval function - lisp

I've seen many examples where the (set-interval "my-method" n) function is used to call a function every n seconds in the browser, but I cannot get the set-interval function to run.
If I use:
(ql:quickload :parenscript)
(use-package :parenscript)
(use-package: ps-window-wd-symbols)
I get a lot of namespace collisions and set-interval is still an undefined function.
I've also tried (ps:unobfuscate-package "ps-window-wd-symbols") which returns NIL and does nothing.
What is the correct way of doing this?
Update: using (apropos "set-interval") provides:
(apropos "set-interval")
SET-INTERVAL
SMACKJACK::SET-INTERVAL
PS-WINDOW-WD-SYMBOLS:SET-INTERVAL
So it's being provided in two places. Trying (smackjack::set-interval NIL NIL) also causes an Undefined function error.
Using M-. returns "No known Symbol" in my main project namespace.

The best way to use this functions is using it inside de defmacro ps.
As showing in the doc comments in code you can find this:
;; These are convenience packages that export JS and browser DOM ;;
symbols. If you :use the packages in a package FOO and then ;;
obfuscate FOO, it will prevent the JS symbols from getting ;; mangled.
;; For most web development tasks, you want to import PS-JS-SYMBOLS,
;; PS-WINDOW-WD-SYMBOLS (which includes DOM level 2 and the w3c Window
;; working draft), and possibly the PS-DOM-NONSTANDARD-SYMBOLS.
and the set-interval function is exported by ps-window-wd-symbols package and not with parenscript package
the defmacro ps:
"Given Parenscript forms (an implicit progn), compiles those forms to
a JavaScript string at macro-expansion time. Expands into a form which
evaluates to a string.
take a look at the following gist:
(ql:quickload :parenscript)
(ql:quickload :cl-who)
(ql:quickload :clack)
(in-package :ps)
(defvar *canvas-id* "alien-canvas")
(clack:clackup
(lambda (env)
(list 200
'(:content-type "text/html")
(list
(who:with-html-output-to-string (*standard-output* nil :prologue t :indent t)
(:html
(:head
(:script :type "text/javascript"
(who:fmt "~A"
(ps (defvar x 0)
(defvar y 0)
(defvar dx 1)
(defvar dy 1)
(defvar img (new -image))
(setf (# img src) "http://www.lisperati.com/lisplogo_alien_128.png")
(set-interval "draw()" 5)
(defun draw ()
(let ((w 128)
(h 75)
(canvas ((# document get-element-by-id) #.*canvas-id*)))
(if (or (not canvas) (not (# canvas get-context)))
(return false))
(let ((ctx ((# canvas get-context) "2d")))
((# ctx fill-rect) 0 0 500 500)
(if (and (<= (+ x dx w) 500) (<= 0 (+ x dx)))
(setf x (+ x dx))
(setf dx (* dx -1)))
(if (and (<= (+ y dy h) 500) (<= 0 (+ y dy)))
(setf y (+ y dy))
(setf dy (* dy -1)))
((# ctx draw-image) img x y))))))))
(:body (:canvas :id *canvas-id* :width 500 :height 500))))))))

AFAIK, set-interval is just a symbol and not an actual function (in Lisp). Parenscript produces Javascript code, which can then be run in a JS interpreter (e.g. a browser), but this is not an interpreter itself.
Parenscript offers a way to obfuscate symbols, but can also guarantee some symbols are not obfuscated. The documentation says:
Since Parenscript doesn't know anything about the DOM or other
JavaScript libraries, library function and property names might be
inadvertently obfuscated. To help prevent that, Parenscript comes with
the ps-dom1-symbols, ps-dom2-symbols, ps-window-wd-symbols,
ps-dom-nonstandard-symbols and ps-dhtml-symbols symbol packages that
define various DOM property and function identifiers as exported
symbols (in both case-sensitive and insensitive variants), which you
can import into your packages to help prevent symbols like pageXOffset
from being obfuscated. The ps-dhtml-symbols package contains the
broadest range of symbols and is most generally useful.
If you use obfuscation and external JavaScript libraries, you can use
the same technique to define your own packages with symbols that will
not be obfuscated.
Smackjack also produces a call to setInterval (pusher.lisp:189), but it does not import the symbols from the above packages. This is not really a problem because only the symbol's name is used here, and no obfuscation is done. In other terms, both smackjack::set-interval and ps-window-wd-symbols:set-interval are mapped to the same Javascript function.

Related

How do I provide a list of functions in Racket?

If I have a function that I want to be available outside of the current module, I can do the following...
(provide my-function)
Can I do this for a list of functions?
I tried the following...
(define f1 ...) ; body omitted for clarity
(define f2 ...) ; ditto
(define my-funs '(f1 f2))
(provide my-funs)
...but this gave "Unbound identifier in: f1" when I tried it.
Can I do this? Thanks
Update: Just to clarify what I'm trying to do here, I am working my way through Beautiful Racket, and am doing the first tutorial. At the stage where he defines the expander, he adds a handle function to handle the operators...
(define (handle [arg #f])
(cond
[(number? arg) (push-stack! arg)]
[(or (equal? * arg) (equal? + arg))
(define op-result (arg (pop-stack!) (pop-stack!)))
(push-stack! op-result)]))
But then, in order to make this work, he provides both + and *...
(provide + *)
This means that these two operators are hard-coded twice. When adding support for other operators, you'd need to modify the handle function and the provide call. I am trying to work out if we can define a list of operators, and use that in both, so you'd only need to make one modification to support new operators.
No, you can't do this.
You can export a list of functions by using filtered-out and begin-for-syntax (as seen below), but this prevents you from using the list within your code.
Exporting a list
#lang racket
(module fns racket
(require racket/provide)
(define (f1 a) (+ a 1))
(define (f2 a) (+ a 2))
(begin-for-syntax
(define my-funs '(f1 f2)))
(provide
(filtered-out
(λ (name) (and (member (string->symbol name) my-funs) name))
(all-defined-out))))
(require 'fns)
(display (f1 2))
How this works
provide can take any number of provide-spec forms and specifying multiple provide-specs is equivalent to writing multiple provide forms. One of the available provide-spec forms is all-defined-out, which will export all defined symbols in the module (or file if a module isn't explicitly specified).
By requiring racket/provide, we get access to helper functions that can transform and operate on provide-spec forms; filtered-out in particular allows us to run arbitrary code over a provide-spec and returns a valid provide-spec. (The required proc-expr is a function that takes a string (the string value of the exported identifiers) and returns a string or a falsy value. That's why when using member, we wrap it in an and and return the raw name itself. This could also be accomplished with findf: (λ (name) (findf (λ (n) (equal? (string->symbol name) n)) my-funs)))
However, this isn't quite enough, as provide is executed at "compile time", meaning that our list my-funs isn't available yet. To handle that, we need to wrap that definition in begin-for-syntax, which makes the binding available at "compile time" as well. But, by moving my-funs to "compile time", you lose the ability to use my-funs in non-"compile time" code. This means, for instance, you couldn't say (cond ... [(member arg my-funs) ...]):
(define (handle [arg #f])
(cond
[(number? arg) (push-stack! arg)]
[(member arg my-funs)
;; ^--- Error here with "my-funs: unbound identifier"
(define op-result (arg (pop-stack!) (pop-stack!)))
(push-stack! op-result)]))

How to Explain Lexical vs Dynamic Binding?

I read a relevant post on binding, however still have questions.
Here are the following examples I found. Can someone tell me if the conclusions are correct?
Dynamic Binding of x in (i):
(defun j ()
(let ((x 1))
(i)))
(defun i ()
(+ x x))
> (j)
2
Lexical Binding of x in i2:
(defun i2 (x)
(+ x x))
(defun k ()
(let ((x 1))
(i2 2)))
> (k)
4
No Global Lexical Variables in ANSI CL so Dynamic Binding is performed:
(setq x 3)
(defun z () x)
> (let ((x 4)) (z))
4
Dynamic Binding, which appears to bind to a lexically scoped variable:
(defvar x 1)
(defun f (x) (g 2))
(defun g (y) (+ x y))
> (f 5)
7
Based on the above tests, CL first tries lexical binding. If there is no lexical match in the environment, then CL tries dynamic binding. It appears that any previously lexically scoped variables become available to dynamic binding. Is this correct? If not, what is the behavior?
(defun j ()
(let ((x 1))
(i)))
(defun i ()
(+ x x))
> (j)
2
This is actually undefined behavior in Common Lisp. The exact consequences of using undefined variables (here in function i) is not defined in the standard.
CL-USER 75 > (defun j ()
(let ((x 1))
(i)))
J
CL-USER 76 > (defun i ()
(+ x x))
I
CL-USER 77 > (j)
Error: The variable X is unbound.
1 (continue) Try evaluating X again.
2 Return the value of :X instead.
3 Specify a value to use this time instead of evaluating X.
4 Specify a value to set X to.
5 (abort) Return to top loop level 0.
Type :b for backtrace or :c <option number> to proceed.
Type :bug-form "<subject>" for a bug report template or :? for other options.
CL-USER 78 : 1 >
As you see, the Lisp interpreter (!) complains at runtime.
Now:
(setq x 3)
SETQ sets an undefined variable. That's also not fully defined in the standard. Most compilers will complain:
LispWorks
;;;*** Warning in (TOP-LEVEL-FORM 1): X assumed special in SETQ
; (TOP-LEVEL-FORM 1)
;; Processing Cross Reference Information
;;; Compilation finished with 1 warning, 0 errors, 0 notes.
or SBCL
; in: SETQ X
; (SETQ X 1)
;
; caught WARNING:
; undefined variable: COMMON-LISP-USER::X
;
; compilation unit finished
; Undefined variable:
; X
; caught 1 WARNING condition
(defvar x 1)
(defun f (x) (g 2))
(defun g (y) (+ x y))
> (f 5)
7
Dynamic Binding, which appears to bind to a lexically scoped variable
No, x is globally defined to be special by DEFVAR. Thus f creates a dynamic binding for x and the value of x in the function g is looked up in the dynamic environment.
Basic rules for the developer
never use undefined variables
when using special variables always put * around them, so that it is always visible when using them, that dynamic binding&lookup is being used. This also makes sure that one does NOT declare variables by accident globally as special. One (defvar x 42) and x will from then on always be a special variable using dynamic binding. This is usually not what is wanted and it may lead to hard to debug errors.
In summary: no, CL never 'tries one kind of binding then another': rather it establishes what kind of binding is in effect, at compile time, and refers to that. Further, variable bindings and references are always lexical unless there is a special declaration in effect, in which case they are dynamic. The only time when it is not lexically apparent whether there is a special declaration in effect is for global special declarations, usually performed via defvar / defparameter, which may not be visible (for instance they could be in other source files).
There are two good reasons it decides about binding like this:
firstly it means that a human reading the code can (except possibly in the case of a global special declaration which is not visible) know what sort of binding is in use – getting a surprise about whether a variable reference is to a dynamic or lexical binding of that variable is seldom a pleasant experience;
secondly it means that good compilation is possible – unless the compiler can know what a variable's binding type is, it can never compile good code for references to that variable, and this is particularly the case for lexical bindings with definite extent where variable references can often be compiled entirely away.
An important aside: always use a visually-distinct way of writing variables which have global special declarations. So never say anything like (defvar x ...): the language does not forbid this but it's just catastrophically misleading when reading code, as this is the exact case where a special declaration is often not visible to the person reading the code. Further, use *...* for global specials like the global specials defined by the language and like everyone else does. I often use %...% for nonglobal specials but there is no best practice for this that I know of. It's fine (and there are plenty of examples defined by the language) to use unadorned names for constants since these may not be bound.
The detailed examples and answers below assume:
Common Lisp (not any other Lisp);
that the code quoted is all the code, so there are no additional declarations or anything like that.
Here is an example where there is a global special declaration in effect:
;;; Declare *X* globally special, but establish no top-level binding
;;; for it
;;;
(defvar *x*)
(defun foo ()
;; FOO refers to the dynamic binding of *X*
*x*)
;;; Call FOO with no binding for *X*: this will signal an
;;; UNBOUND-VARIABLE error, which we catch and report
;;;
(handler-case
(foo)
(unbound-variable (u)
(format *error-output* "~&~S unbound in FOO~%"
(cell-error-name u))))
(defun bar (x)
;; X is lexical in BAR
(let ((*x* x))
;; *X* is special, so calling FOO will now be OK
(foo)))
;;; This call will therefore return 3
;;;
(bar 3)
Here is an example where there are nonglobal special declarations.
(defun foo (x)
;; X is lexical
(let ((%y% x))
(declare (special %y%))
;; The binding of %Y% here is special. This means that the
;; compiler can't know if it is referenced so there will be no
;; compiler message even though it is unreferenced in FOO.
(bar)))
(defun bar ()
(let ((%y% 1))
;; There is no special declaration in effect here for %Y%, so this
;; binding of %Y% is lexical. Therefore it is also unused, and
;; tere will likely be a compiler message about this.
(fog)))
(defun fog ()
;; FOG refers to the dynamic binding of %Y%. Therefore there is no
;; compiler message even though there is no apparent binding of it
;; at compile time nor gobal special declaration.
(declare (special %y%))
%y%)
;;; This returns 3
;;;
(foo 3)
Note that in this example it is always lexically apparent what binding should be in effect for %y%: just looking at the functions on their own tells you what you need to know.
Now here are come comments on your sample code fragments.
(defun j ()
(let ((x 1))
(i)))
(defun i ()
(+ x x))
> (j)
<error>
This is illegal in CL: x is not bound in i and so a call to i should signal an error (specifically an unbound-variable error).
(defun i2 (x)
(+ x x))
(defun k ()
(let ((x 1))
(i2 2)))
> (k)
4
This is fine: i2 binds x lexically, so the binding established by k is never used. You will likely get a compiler warning about unused variables in k but this is implementation-dependent of course.
(setq x 3)
(defun z () x)
> (let ((x 4)) (z))
<undefined>
This is undefined behaviour in CL: setq's portable behaviour is to mutate an existing binding but not to create a new bindings. You are trying to use it to do the latter, which is undefined behaviour. Many implementations allow setq to be used like this at top-level and they may either create what is essentially a global lexical, a global special, or do some other thing. While this is often done in practice when interacting with a given implementation's top level, that does not make it defined behaviour in the language: programs should never do this. My own implementation squirts white-hot jets of lead from hidden nozzles in the general direction of the programmer when you do this.
(defvar x 1)
(defun f (x) (g 2))
(defun g (y) (+ x y))
> (f 5)
7
This is legal. Here:
defvar declares x globally special, so all bindings of x will be dynamic, and establishes a top-level binding of x to 1;
in f the binding of its argument, x will therefore be dynamic, not lexical (without the preceding defvar it would be lexical);
in g the free reference to x will be to its dynamic binding (without the preceding defvar it would be a compile-time warning (implementation-dependent) and a run-time error (not implementation-dependent).

Translating this to Common Lisp

I've been reading an article by Olin Shivers titled Stylish Lisp programming techniques and found the second example there (labeled "Technique n-1") a bit puzzling. It describes a self-modifying macro that looks like this:
(defun gen-counter macro (x)
(let ((ans (cadr x)))
(rplaca (cdr x)
(+ 1 ans))
ans))
It's supposed to get its calling form as argument x (i.e. (gen-counter <some-number>)). The purpose of this is to be able to do something like this:
> ;this prints out the numbers from 0 to 9.
(do ((n 0 (gen-counter 1)))
((= n 10) t)
(princ n))
0.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.T
>
The problem is that this syntax with the macro symbol after the function name is not valid in Common Lisp. I've been unsuccessfully trying to obtain similar behavior in Common Lisp. Can someone please provide a working example of analogous macro in CL?
Why the code works
First, it's useful to consider the first example in the paper:
> (defun element-generator ()
(let ((state '(() . (list of elements to be generated)))) ;() sentinel.
(let ((ans (cadr state))) ;pick off the first element
(rplacd state (cddr state)) ;smash the cons
ans)))
ELEMENT-GENERATOR
> (element-generator)
LIST
> (element-generator)
OF
> (element-generator)
This works because there's one literal list
(() . (list of elements to be generated)
and it's being modified. Note that this is actually undefined behavior in Common Lisp, but you'll get the same behavior in some Common Lisp implementations. See Unexpected persistence of data and some of the other linked questions for a discussion of what's happening here.
Approximating it in Common Lisp
Now, the paper and code you're citing actually has some useful comments about what this code is doing:
(defun gen-counter macro (x) ;X is the entire form (GEN-COUNTER n)
(let ((ans (cadr x))) ;pick the ans out of (gen-counter ans)
(rplaca (cdr x) ;increment the (gen-counter ans) form
(+ 1 ans))
ans)) ;return the answer
The way that this is working is not quite like an &rest argument, as in Rainer Joswig's answer, but actually a &whole argument, where the the entire form can be bound to a variable. This is using the source of the program as the literal value that gets destructively modified! Now, in the paper, this is used in this example:
> ;this prints out the numbers from 0 to 9.
(do ((n 0 (gen-counter 1)))
((= n 10) t)
(princ n))
0.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.T
However, in Common Lisp, we'd expect the macro to be expanded just once. That is, we expect (gen-counter 1) to be replaced by some piece of code. We can still generate a piece of code like this, though:
(defmacro make-counter (&whole form initial-value)
(declare (ignore initial-value))
(let ((text (gensym (string 'text-))))
`(let ((,text ',form))
(incf (second ,text)))))
CL-USER> (macroexpand '(make-counter 3))
(LET ((#:TEXT-1002 '(MAKE-COUNTER 3)))
(INCF (SECOND #:TEXT-1002)))
Then we can recreate the example with do
CL-USER> (do ((n 0 (make-counter 1)))
((= n 10) t)
(princ n))
023456789
Of course, this is undefined behavior, since it's modifying literal data. It won't work in all Lisps (the run above is from CCL; it didn't work in SBCL).
But don't miss the point
The whole article is sort of interesting, but recognize that it's sort of a joke, too. It's pointing out that you can do some funny things in an evaluator that doesn't compile code. It's mostly satire that's pointing out the inconsistencies of Lisp systems that have different behaviors under evaluation and compilation. Note the last paragraph:
Some short-sighted individuals will point out that these programming
techniques, while certainly laudable for their increased clarity and
efficiency, would fail on compiled code. Sadly, this is true. At least
two of the above techniques will send most compilers into an infinite
loop. But it is already known that most lisp compilers do not
implement full lisp semantics -- dynamic scoping, for instance. This
is but another case of the compiler failing to preserve semantic
correctness. It remains the task of the compiler implementor to
adjust his system to correctly implement the source language, rather
than the user to resort to ugly, dangerous, non-portable, non-robust
``hacks'' in order to program around a buggy compiler.
I hope this provides some insight into the nature of clean, elegant
Lisp programming techniques.
—Olin Shivers
Common Lisp:
(defmacro gen-counter (&rest x)
(let ((ans (car x)))
(rplaca x (+ 1 ans))
ans))
But above only works in the Interpreter, not with a compiler.
With compiled code, the macro call is gone - it is expanded away - and there is nothing to modify.
Note to unsuspecting readers: you might want to read the paper by Olin Shivers very careful and try to find out what he actually means...

Macro calling a function works in interpreter, fails in compiler (SBCL + CMUCL)

As suggested in a macro-related question I recently posted to SO, I coded a macro called "fast" via a call to a function (here is the standalone code in pastebin):
(defun main ()
(progn
(format t "~A~%" (+ 1 2 (* 3 4) (+ 5 (- 8 6))))
(format t "~A~%" (fast (+ 1 2 (* 3 4) (+ 5 (- 8 6)))))))
This works in the REPL, under both SBCL and CMUCL:
$ sbcl
This is SBCL 1.0.52, an implementation of ANSI Common Lisp.
...
* (load "bug.cl")
22
22
$
Unfortunately, however, the code no longer compiles:
$ sbcl
This is SBCL 1.0.52, an implementation of ANSI Common Lisp.
...
* (compile-file "bug.cl")
...
; during macroexpansion of (FAST (+ 1 2 ...)). Use *BREAK-ON-SIGNALS* to
; intercept:
;
; The function COMMON-LISP-USER::CLONE is undefined.
So it seems that by having my macro "fast" call functions ("clone","operation-p") at compile-time, I trigger issues in Lisp compilers (verified in both CMUCL and SBCL).
Any ideas on what I am doing wrong and/or how to fix this?
Some remarks about your code.
multiple tests of an object for equality can be replaced by MEMBER
backquote with a following comma does nothing. You can just remove that.
you can ensure that your functions are available for a macro by a) moving these functions to an additional file and compile/load that before use of the macro, by b) using EVAL-WHENto inform the compiler to evaluate the definition of the functions or by c) adding the functions to the macro as local functions
Example:
(defmacro fast (&rest sexpr)
(labels ((operation-p (x)
(member x '(+ - * /)))
(clone (sexpr)
(if (consp sexpr)
(destructuring-bind (head . tail) sexpr
(if (operation-p head)
`(the fixnum (,head ,#(clone tail)))
(cons (clone head) (clone tail))))
sexpr)))
(car (clone sexpr))))
Note that this and your version of FAST are not complete code walkers. They recognize only simple function calls (and not the other Lisp constructs like LAMBDA, LET, FLET, LABELS, etc.).
Never mind, I figured it out: I had to move the functions invoked by the macro (and therefore required during compilation) in a separate file, "compile-file" it first, "load" it, then "compile-file" the one with the macro.
Macro-expansion tie happens (typically) during compile time.
That means that any functions used during the macro expansion (note, not necessarily in the macro-expansion, the return value as it were) must be defined when the macro is encountered during compilation.

Difference between let* and set? in Common Lisp

I am working on a genetic programming hobby project.
I have a function/macro setup that, when evaluated in a setq/setf form, will generate a list that will look something like this.
(setq trees (make-trees 2))
==> (+ x (abs x))
Then it will get bound out to a lambda function #<FUNCTION :LAMBDA (X) ... > via strategic use of functions/macros
However, I want to get a bit more effective with this than manually assigning to variables, so I wrote something like this:
(setq sample
(let* ((trees (make-trees 2))
(tree-bindings (bind-trees trees))
(evaluated-trees (eval-fitness tree-bindings))))
(list (trees tree-bindings evaluated-trees)))
However, I get EVAL: trees has no value when I place this in a let form. My suspicion is that the macro expansions don't get fully performed in a LET as compared to a SETF, but that doesn't make sense to me.
What is the cause of this issue?
--- edit: yanked my code and put the whole file in a pastebin ---
Supposing that I decide that a setq isn't going to do it for me and I write a simple function to do it:
(defun generate-sample ()
(let ((twiggs (make-trees 2)))
(let ((tree-bindings (bind-trees twiggs)))
(let ((evaluated-trees (eval-fitness tree-bindings)))
(list twiggs tree-bindings evaluated-trees)))))
This yields an explosion of ...help file error messages (??!?)... and "eval: variable twiggs has no value", which stems from the bind-trees definition on SLIME inspection.
I am reasonably sure that I've completely hosed my macros. http://pastebin.org/673619
(Setq make-trees 2) sets the value of the variable make-trees to 2, then returns 2.
I do not see a reason for a macro in what you describe. Is it true that your make-trees creates a single random tree, which can be interpreted as a program? Just define this as a function with defun. I am thinking of something like this:
(defun make-tree (node-number)
(if (= node-number 1)
(make-leaf)
(cons (get-random-operator)
(mapcar #'make-tree
(random-partition (- node-number 1))))))
Let and setq do totally different things. Setq assigns a value to an existing variable, while let creates a new lexical scope with a number of lexical bindings.
I think that you should present more of your code; currently, your question does not make a lot of sense.
Update:
I will fix your snippet's indentation to make things clearer:
(setq sample
(let* ((trees (make-trees 2))
(tree-bindings (bind-trees trees))
(evaluated-trees (eval-fitness tree-bindings))))
(list (trees tree-bindings evaluated-trees)))
Now, as written before, let* establishes lexical bindings. These
are only in scope within its body:
(setq sample
(let* ((trees (make-trees 2))
(tree-bindings (bind-trees trees))
(evaluated-trees (eval-fitness tree-bindings)))
;; here trees, tree-bindings, and evaluated-trees are bound
) ; end of let* body
;; here trees, tree-bindings, and evaluated trees are not in scope anymore
(list (trees tree-bindings evaluated-trees)))
That last line is spurious, too. If those names were bound, it would
return a list of one element, which would be the result of evaluating
the function trees with tree-bindings and evaluated-trees as
arguments.
You might get what you want like this:
(setq sample
(let* ((trees (make-trees 2))
(tree-bindings (bind-trees trees))
(evaluated-trees (eval-fitness tree-bindings)))
(list trees tree-bindings evaluated-trees)))
Another update:
The purpose of macros is to eliminate repeated code when that elimination is not possible with functions. One frequent application is when dealing with places, and you also need them to define new control constructs. As long as you do not see that something cannot work as a function, do not use a macro for it.
Here is some code that might help you:
(defun make-tree-lambda (depth)
(list 'lambda '(x)
(new-tree depth)))
(defun make-tree-function (lambda-tree)
(eval lambda-tree))
(defun eval-fitness (lambda-form-list input-output-list)
"Determines how well the lambda forms approach the wanted function
by comparing their output with the wanted output in the supplied test
cases. Returns a list of mean quadratic error sums."
(mapcar (lambda (lambda-form)
(let* ((actual-results (mapcar (make-tree-function lambda-form)
(mapcar #'first input-output-list)))
(differences (mapcar #'-
actual-results
(mapcar #'second input-output-list)))
(squared-differences (mapcar #'square
differences)))
(/ (reduce #'+ squared-differences)
(length squared-differences))))
lambda-form-list))
(defun tree-fitness (tree-list input-output-list)
"Creates a list of lists, each inner list is (tree fitness). Input
is a list of trees, and a list of test cases."
(mapcar (lambda (tree fitness)
(list tree fitness))
tree-list
(eval-fitness (mapcar #'make-tree-lambda tree-list)
input-output-list)))