[Openmcl-devel] Using readtables for only one library

[Robert Goldman]

FWIW, I've seen two compelling uses for readtables:

1.  Literal syntaxes for data structures.  For many data structures,
especially clos-based ones, there is simply no convenient built-in
literal syntax and no easy way to develop one without using readtables.

2.  As a tool for slurping output from other tools.  E.g., on one system
(see last year's ILC paper with Steve Harp), we made us of reader macros
to help us slurp the output of the Protegé ontology editor
(http://protege.stanford.edu/).  This is an especially benign use, since
it's only for pipes directly from someone else to the Lisp image, and
doesn't complicate normal reading.

cheers,
r