Symbol Syntax

The read syntax of a symbol is simply its name; if the name contains any meta-characters (whitespace or any from `()[]'";|') they will have to be entered specially. There are two ways to tell the reader that a meta-character is actually part of the symbol's name:

1. Precede the meta-character by a backslash character (`\'), for example:

   xy\(z\)                 ;the symbol whose name is `xy(z)'
   

2. Enclose part of the name in vertical lines (two `|' characters). All characters after the starting vertical line are copied as-is until the closing vertical line is encountered. For example:

   xy|(z)|                 ;the symbol `xy(z)'
   

Here are some example read syntaxes.

setq                    ; `setq'
|setq|                  ; `setq'
\s\e\t\q                ; `setq'
1                       ; the number 1
\1                      ; the symbol `1'
|!$%zf78&|              ; `!$%zf78&'
foo|(bar)|              ; `foo(bar)'
foo\(bar\)              ; `foo(bar)'

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