LFE eval func ?

[subhrendu Sarkar]

doing 

(eval "(+ 2 2)")

gives "(+ 2 2)"

isnt a string inherently a list and hence an S-expr ?

Why does this require conversion from string to Expressions ? 

Any reason this was done this way ?

[Robert Virding]

Yes, a string is a list, but it is a list of characters and not an expression. Eval takes an expression, so:

(eval '(+ 2 2))  ==> 4

A string which is a list of characters (integers) is specially treated and not handled as a call to be evaluated so it does not need to be quoted. Otherwise the string "hello" would result in a call to the "function" 104.

LFE does not do any automatic conversion of arguments.

Robert