Re: [MIT-Scheme-devel] Parsing the file attributes line.

[Taylor R Campbell]

   Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 18:02:01 -0700
   From: Joe Marshall <address@hidden>

   It is simply a way of adding a little in-band meta-information
   about the file.  It can't be a scheme form because evaluation of
   forms happens after reading is finished.  It *could* be a funny
   reader token, but there are no portable ways to add funny reader
   tokens that don't cause other scheme systems to gag.  A comment has
   the advantage that it shouldn't interfere with other scheme
   systems.

What are you planning on doing with the objects represented in the
file after you have read it into a Scheme system that doesn't know
about the attribute line?  Either you intend to depend on the self-
evaluating nature of a subset of symbols, in which case the Scheme
system will gag anyway; or you don't, in which case there's no need to
write the attribute line at all.