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5.7.3 Compiler Arguments ¶

The :block-compile and :entry-points arguments to extensions:compile-from-stream and compile-file provide overall control of block compilation, and allow block compilation without requiring modification of the program source.

There are three possible values of the :block-compile argument:

nil

Do no compile-time resolution of global function names, not even for self-recursive calls. This inhibits any start-block declarations appearing in the file, allowing all functions to be incrementally redefined.

t

Start compiling in block compilation mode. This is mainly useful for block compiling small files that contain no start-block declarations. See also the :entry-points argument.

:specified

Start compiling in form-at-a-time mode, but exploit any start-block declarations and compile self-recursive calls as local calls. Normally :specified is the default for this argument (see block-compile-default.)

The :entry-points argument can be used in conjunction with :block-compile t to specify the entry-points to a block-compiled file. If not specified or nil, all global functions will be compiled as entry points. When :block-compile is not t, this argument is ignored.

Variable: *block-compile-default* ¶

This variable determines the default value for the :block-compile argument to compile-file and compile-from-stream. The initial value of this variable is :specified, but nil is sometimes useful for totally inhibiting block compilation.