ANSI Common Lisp   3 Evaluation and Compilation   3.4 Lambda Lists

3.4.2 Generic Function Lambda Lists

A generic function lambda list is used by defgeneric.

A generic function lambda list has the following syntax:

lambda-list::= {var}*
 [&optional {var | (var)}^*]
 [&rest var]
 [&key {var | ({var | (keyword-name var)})}^* [&allow-other-keys]]

A generic function lambda list can contain the lambda list keywords shown in the next figure.

A generic function lambda list differs from an ordinary lambda list in the following ways:

• Required arguments

  Zero or more required parameters must be specified.

• Optional and keyword arguments

  Optional parameters and keyword parameters may not have default initial value forms nor use supplied-p parameters.

• Use of &aux

  The use of &aux is not allowed.