![](http://www.gnu-darwin.org/hexley-gd-sm.png)
|
cons /konz/ or /kons/
[from LISP] 1. vt. To add a new
element to a specified list, esp. at the top. "OK, cons picking
a replacement for the console TTY onto the agenda." 2. `cons
up': vt. To synthesize from smaller pieces: "to cons up an
example".
In LISP itself, cons is the most fundamental operation for
building structures. It takes any two objects and returns a
`dot-pair' or two-branched tree with one object hanging from each
branch. Because the result of a cons is an object, it can be used
to build binary trees of any shape and complexity. Hackers think
of it as a sort of universal constructor, and that is where the
jargon meanings spring from.
|