"feilong" <coli.uni-sb.de at feilong> writes:

> Hello,
> Why is the length of (quote '(1 2 3)) 2 not 3.
> For example:
> CG-USER(3): (length (quote '(1 2 3)))
> 2
> 
> CG-USER(5): (length  ''(1 2 3))
> 2
> 
> CG-USER(6): (length  '''(1 2 3))
> 2
> 
> CG-USER(7): (length  ''''(1 2 3))
> 
> 2
> 
> Best Greeting

'(1 2 3) is just shorthand for (quote (1 2 3)), so (quote '(1 2 3))
could also be written as (quote (quote (1 2 3))) or '(quote (1 2 3))
which clearly is a list with two elements - the symbol QUOTE is the
first element, and the list (1 2 3) is the second element.

Cheers,
Edi.