1 Lists

A list represents a sequence of zero or more elements (which may be any Lisp objects). The important difference between lists and vectors is that two or more lists can share part of their structure; in addition, you can insert or delete elements in a list without copying the whole list.

1.1 Lists and Cons Cells

Lists in Lisp are not a primitive data type; they are built up from cons cells. A cons cell is a data object which represents an ordered pair. It records two Lisp objects, one labeled as the CAR, and the other labeled as the CDR. (These names are traditional.)

A list is made by chaining cons cells together, one cons cell per element. By convention, the CARs of the cons cells are the elements of the list, and the CDRs are used to chain the list: the CDR of each cons cell is the following cons cell. The CDR of the last cons cell is nil. This asymmetry between the CAR and the CDR is entirely a matter of convention; at the level of cons cells, the CAR and CDR slots have the same characteristics.

The symbol nil is considered a list as well as a symbol; it is the list with no elements. For convenience, the symbol nil is considered to have nil as its CDR (and also as its CAR).

The CDR of any nonempty list l is a list containing all the elements of l except the first.

1.2 Lists as Linked Pairs of Boxes

A cons cell can be illustrated as a pair of boxes. The first box represents the CAR and the second box represents the CDR. Here is an illustration of the two-element list, (tulip lily), made from two cons cells:

 ---------------         ---------------
| car   | cdr   |       | car   | cdr   |
| tulip |   o---------->| lily  |  nil  |
|       |       |       |       |       |
 ---------------         ---------------

Each pair of boxes represents a cons cell. Each box “refers to”, “points to” or “contains” a Lisp object. (These terms are synonymous.) The first box, which is the CAR of the first cons cell, contains the symbol tulip. The arrow from the CDR of the first cons cell to the second cons cell indicates that the CDR of the first cons cell points to the second cons cell.

The same list can be illustrated in a different sort of box notation like this:

    ___ ___      ___ ___
   |___|___|--> |___|___|--> nil
     |            |
     |            |
      --> tulip    --> lily

Here is a more complex illustration, this time of the three-element list, ((pine needles) oak maple), the first element of which is a two-element list:

    ___ ___      ___ ___      ___ ___
   |___|___|--> |___|___|--> |___|___|--> nil
     |            |            |
     |            |            |
     |             --> oak      --> maple
     |
     |     ___ ___      ___ ___
      --> |___|___|--> |___|___|--> nil
            |            |
            |            |
             --> pine     --> needles

The same list is represented in the first box notation like this:

 --------------       --------------       --------------
| car   | cdr  |     | car   | cdr  |     | car   | cdr  |
|   o   |   o------->| oak   |   o------->| maple |  nil |
|   |   |      |     |       |      |     |       |      |
 -- | ---------       --------------       --------------
    |
    |
    |        --------------       ----------------
    |       | car   | cdr  |     | car     | cdr  |
     ------>| pine  |   o------->| needles |  nil |
            |       |      |     |         |      |
             --------------       ----------------

@xref{List Type}, for the read and print syntax of lists, and for more “box and arrow” illustrations of lists.

1.3 Predicates on Lists

The following predicates test whether a Lisp object is an atom, is a cons cell or is a list, or whether it is the distinguished object nil. (Many of these tests can be defined in terms of the others, but they are used so often that it is worth having all of them.)

Function: consp object

This function returns t if object is a cons cell, nil otherwise. nil is not a cons cell, although it is a list.

Function: atom object

This function returns t if object is an atom, nil otherwise. All objects except cons cells are atoms. The symbol nil is an atom and is also a list; it is the only Lisp object which is both.

(atom object) ≡ (not (consp object))

Function: listp object

This function returns t if object is a cons cell or nil. Otherwise, it returns nil.

(listp '(1))
     ⇒ t

(listp '())
     ⇒ t

Function: nlistp object

This function is the opposite of listp: it returns t if object is not a list. Otherwise, it returns nil.

(listp object) ≡ (not (nlistp object))

Function: null object

This function returns t if object is nil, and returns nil otherwise. This function is identical to not, but as a matter of clarity we use null when object is considered a list and not when it is considered a truth value (see not in @ref{Combining Conditions}).

(null '(1))
     ⇒ nil

(null '())
     ⇒ t

1.4 Accessing Elements of Lists

Function: car cons-cell

This function returns the value pointed to by the first pointer of the cons cell cons-cell. Expressed another way, this function returns the CAR of cons-cell.

As a special case, if cons-cell is nil, then car is defined to return nil; therefore, any list is a valid argument for car. An error is signaled if the argument is not a cons cell or nil.

(car '(a b c))
     ⇒ a

(car '())
     ⇒ nil

Function: cdr cons-cell

This function returns the value pointed to by the second pointer of the cons cell cons-cell. Expressed another way, this function returns the CDR of cons-cell.

As a special case, if cons-cell is nil, then cdr is defined to return nil; therefore, any list is a valid argument for cdr. An error is signaled if the argument is not a cons cell or nil.

(cdr '(a b c))
     ⇒ (b c)

(cdr '())
     ⇒ nil

Function: car-safe object

This function lets you take the CAR of a cons cell while avoiding errors for other data types. It returns the CAR of object if object is a cons cell, nil otherwise. This is in contrast to car, which signals an error if object is not a list.

(car-safe object)
≡
(let ((x object))
  (if (consp x)
      (car x)
    nil))

Function: cdr-safe object

This function lets you take the CDR of a cons cell while avoiding errors for other data types. It returns the CDR of object if object is a cons cell, nil otherwise. This is in contrast to cdr, which signals an error if object is not a list.

(cdr-safe object)
≡
(let ((x object))
  (if (consp x)
      (cdr x)
    nil))

Function: nth n list

This function returns the nth element of list. Elements are numbered starting with zero, so the CAR of list is element number zero. If the length of list is n or less, the value is nil.

If n is less than zero, then the first element is returned.

(nth 2 '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ 3

(nth 10 '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ nil

(nth -3 '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ 1

(nth n x) ≡ (car (nthcdr n x))

Function: nthcdr n list

This function returns the nth cdr of list. In other words, it removes the first n links of list and returns what follows.

If n is less than or equal to zero, then all of list is returned. If the length of list is n or less, the value is nil.

(nthcdr 1 '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ (2 3 4)

(nthcdr 10 '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ nil

(nthcdr -3 '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4)

1.5 Building Cons Cells and Lists

Many functions build lists, as lists reside at the very heart of Lisp. cons is the fundamental list-building function; however, it is interesting to note that list is used more times in the source code for Emacs than cons.

Function: cons object1 object2

This function is the fundamental function used to build new list structure. It creates a new cons cell, making object1 the CAR, and object2 the CDR. It then returns the new cons cell. The arguments object1 and object2 may be any Lisp objects, but most often object2 is a list.

(cons 1 '(2))
     ⇒ (1 2)

(cons 1 '())
     ⇒ (1)

(cons 1 2)
     ⇒ (1 . 2)

cons is often used to add a single element to the front of a list. This is called consing the element onto the list. For example:

(setq list (cons newelt list))

Note that there is no conflict between the variable named list used in this example and the function named list described below; any symbol can serve both functions.

Function: list &rest objects

This function creates a list with objects as its elements. The resulting list is always nil-terminated. If no objects are given, the empty list is returned.

(list 1 2 3 4 5)
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4 5)

(list 1 2 '(3 4 5) 'foo)
     ⇒ (1 2 (3 4 5) foo)

(list)
     ⇒ nil

Function: make-list length object

This function creates a list of length length, in which all the elements have the identical value object. Compare make-list with make-string (@pxref{Creating Strings}).

(make-list 3 'pigs)
     ⇒ (pigs pigs pigs)

(make-list 0 'pigs)
     ⇒ nil

Function: append &rest sequences

This function returns a list containing all the elements of sequences. The sequences may be lists, vectors, strings, or integers. All arguments except the last one are copied, so none of them are altered.

The final argument to append may be any object but it is typically a list. The final argument is not copied or converted; it becomes part of the structure of the new list.

Here is an example:

(setq trees '(pine oak))
     ⇒ (pine oak)
(setq more-trees (append '(maple birch) trees))
     ⇒ (maple birch pine oak)

trees
     ⇒ (pine oak)
more-trees
     ⇒ (maple birch pine oak)

(eq trees (cdr (cdr more-trees)))
     ⇒ t

You can see what happens by looking at a box diagram. The variable trees is set to the list (pine oak) and then the variable more-trees is set to the list (maple birch pine oak). However, the variable trees continues to refer to the original list:

more-trees                trees
|                           |
|     ___ ___      ___ ___   -> ___ ___      ___ ___
 --> |___|___|--> |___|___|--> |___|___|--> |___|___|--> nil
       |            |            |            |
       |            |            |            |
        --> maple    -->birch     --> pine     --> oak

An empty sequence contributes nothing to the value returned by append. As a consequence of this, a final nil argument forces a copy of the previous argument.

trees
     ⇒ (pine oak)

(setq wood (append trees ()))
     ⇒ (pine oak)

wood
     ⇒ (pine oak)

(eq wood trees)
     ⇒ nil

This once was the standard way to copy a list, before the function copy-sequence was invented. @xref{Sequences Arrays Vectors}.

With the help of apply, we can append all the lists in a list of lists:

(apply 'append '((a b c) nil (x y z) nil))
     ⇒ (a b c x y z)

If no sequences are given, nil is returned:

(append)
     ⇒ nil

In the special case where one of the sequences is an integer (not a sequence of integers), it is first converted to a string of digits making up the decimal print representation of the integer. This special case exists for compatibility with Mocklisp, and we don’t recommend you take advantage of it. If you want to convert an integer in this way, use format (@pxref{Formatting Strings}) or number-to-string (@pxref{String Conversion}).

(setq trees '(pine oak))
     ⇒ (pine oak)

(char-to-string 54)
     ⇒ "6"

(setq longer-list (append trees 6 '(spruce)))
     ⇒ (pine oak 54 spruce)

(setq x-list (append trees 6 6))
     ⇒ (pine oak 54 . 6)

See nconc in Functions that Rearrange Lists, for another way to join lists without copying.

Function: reverse list

This function creates a new list whose elements are the elements of list, but in reverse order. The original argument list is not altered.

(setq x '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4)

(reverse x)
     ⇒ (4 3 2 1)
x
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4)

1.6 Modifying Existing List Structure

You can modify the CAR and CDR contents of a cons cell with the primitives setcar and setcdr.

Common Lisp note: Common Lisp uses functions rplaca and rplacd to alter list structure; they change structure the same way as setcar and setcdr, but the Common Lisp functions return the cons cell while setcar and setcdr return the new CAR or CDR.

1.6.1 Altering List Elements with setcar

Changing the CAR of a cons cell is done with setcar and replaces one element of a list with a different element.

Function: setcar cons object

This function stores object as the new CAR of cons, replacing its previous CAR. It returns the value object. For example:

(setq x '(1 2))
     ⇒ (1 2)

(setcar x '4)
     ⇒ 4

x
     ⇒ (4 2)

When a cons cell is part of the shared structure of several lists, storing a new CAR into the cons changes one element of each of these lists. Here is an example:

;; Create two lists that are partly shared.
(setq x1 '(a b c))
     ⇒ (a b c)
(setq x2 (cons 'z (cdr x1)))
     ⇒ (z b c)

;; Replace the CAR of a shared link.
(setcar (cdr x1) 'foo)
     ⇒ foo
x1                           ; Both lists are changed.
     ⇒ (a foo c)
x2
     ⇒ (z foo c)

;; Replace the CAR of a link that is not shared.
(setcar x1 'baz)
     ⇒ baz
x1                           ; Only one list is changed.
     ⇒ (baz foo c)
x2
     ⇒ (z foo c)

Here is a graphical depiction of the shared structure of the two lists x1 and x2, showing why replacing b changes them both:

        ___ ___        ___ ___      ___ ___
x1---> |___|___|----> |___|___|--> |___|___|--> nil
         |        -->   |            |
         |       |      |            |
          --> a  |       --> b        --> c
                 |
       ___ ___   |
x2--> |___|___|--
        |
        |
         --> z

Here is an alternative form of box diagram, showing the same relationship:

x1:
 --------------       --------------       --------------
| car   | cdr  |     | car   | cdr  |     | car   | cdr  |
|   a   |   o------->|   b   |   o------->|   c   |  nil |
|       |      |  -->|       |      |     |       |      |
 --------------  |    --------------       --------------
                 |
x2:              |
 --------------  |
| car   | cdr  | |
|   z   |   o----
|       |      |
 --------------

1.6.2 Altering the CDR of a List

The lowest-level primitive for modifying a CDR is setcdr:

Function: setcdr cons object

This function stores object into the cdr of cons. The value returned is object, not cons.

Here is an example of replacing the CDR of a list with a different list. All but the first element of the list are removed in favor of a different sequence of elements. The first element is unchanged, because it resides in the CAR of the list, and is not reached via the CDR.

(setq x '(1 2 3))
     ⇒ (1 2 3)

(setcdr x '(4))
     ⇒ (4)

x
     ⇒ (1 4)

You can delete elements from the middle of a list by altering the CDRs of the cons cells in the list. For example, here we delete the second element, b, from the list (a b c), by changing the CDR of the first cell:

(setq x1 '(a b c))
     ⇒ (a b c)
(setcdr x1 (cdr (cdr x1)))
     ⇒ (c)
x1
     ⇒ (a c)

Here is the result in box notation:

                   --------------------
                  |                    |
 --------------   |   --------------   |    --------------
| car   | cdr  |  |  | car   | cdr  |   -->| car   | cdr  |
|   a   |   o-----   |   b   |   o-------->|   c   |  nil |
|       |      |     |       |      |      |       |      |
 --------------       --------------        --------------

The second cons cell, which previously held the element b, still exists and its CAR is still b, but it no longer forms part of this list.

It is equally easy to insert a new element by changing CDRs:

(setq x1 '(a b c))
     ⇒ (a b c)
(setcdr x1 (cons 'd (cdr x1)))
     ⇒ (d b c)
x1
     ⇒ (a d b c)

Here is this result in box notation:

 --------------        -------------       -------------
| car  | cdr   |      | car  | cdr  |     | car  | cdr  |
|   a  |   o   |   -->|   b  |   o------->|   c  |  nil |
|      |   |   |  |   |      |      |     |      |      |
 --------- | --   |    -------------       -------------
           |      |
     -----         --------
    |                      |
    |    ---------------   |
    |   | car   | cdr   |  |
     -->|   d   |   o------
        |       |       |
         ---------------

1.6.3 Functions that Rearrange Lists

Here are some functions that rearrange lists “destructively” by modifying the CDRs of their component cons cells. We call these functions “destructive” because the original lists passed as arguments to them are chewed up to produce a new list that is subsequently returned.

Function: nconc &rest lists

This function returns a list containing all the elements of lists. Unlike append (see section Building Cons Cells and Lists), the lists are not copied. Instead, the last CDR of each of the lists is changed to refer to the following list. The last of the lists is not altered. For example:

(setq x '(1 2 3))
     ⇒ (1 2 3)

(nconc x '(4 5))
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4 5)

x
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4 5)

Since the last argument of nconc is not itself modified, it is reasonable to use a constant list, such as '(4 5), as is done in the above example. For the same reason, the last argument need not be a list:

(setq x '(1 2 3))
     ⇒ (1 2 3)

(nconc x 'z)
     ⇒ (1 2 3 . z)

x
     ⇒ (1 2 3 . z)

A common pitfall is to use a quoted constant list as a non-last argument to nconc. If you do this, your program will change each time you run it! Here is what happens:

(defun add-foo (x)            ; This function should add
  (nconc '(foo) x))           ;   foo to the front of its arg.

(symbol-function 'add-foo)
     ⇒ (lambda (x) (nconc (quote (foo)) x))

(setq xx (add-foo '(1 2)))    ; It seems to work.
     ⇒ (foo 1 2)

(setq xy (add-foo '(3 4)))    ; What happened?
     ⇒ (foo 1 2 3 4)

(eq xx xy)
     ⇒ t

(symbol-function 'add-foo)
     ⇒ (lambda (x) (nconc (quote (foo 1 2 3 4) x)))

Function: nreverse list

This function reverses the order of the elements of list. Unlike reverse, nreverse alters its argument destructively by reversing the CDRs in the cons cells forming the list. The cons cell which used to be the last one in list becomes the first cell of the value.

For example:

(setq x '(1 2 3 4))
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4)

x
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4)
(nreverse x)
     ⇒ (4 3 2 1)

;; The cell that was first is now last.
x
     ⇒ (1)

To avoid confusion, we usually store the result of nreverse back in the same variable which held the original list:

(setq x (nreverse x))

Here is the nreverse of our favorite example, (a b c), presented graphically:

Original list head:                       Reversed list:
 -------------        -------------        ------------
| car  | cdr  |      | car  | cdr  |      | car | cdr  |
|   a  |  nil |<--   |   b  |   o  |<--   |   c |   o  |
|      |      |   |  |      |   |  |   |  |     |   |  |
 -------------    |   --------- | -    |   -------- | -
                  |             |      |            |
                   -------------        ------------

Function: sort list predicate

This function sorts list stably, though destructively, and returns the sorted list. It compares elements using predicate. A stable sort is one in which elements with equal sort keys maintain their relative order before and after the sort. Stability is important when successive sorts are used to order elements according to different criteria.

The argument predicate must be a function that accepts two arguments. It is called with two elements of list. To get an increasing order sort, the predicate should return t if the first element is “less than” the second, or nil if not.

The destructive aspect of sort is that it rearranges the cons cells forming list by changing CDRs. A nondestructive sort function would create new cons cells to store the elements in their sorted order. If you wish to sort a list without destroying the original, copy it first with copy-sequence.

The CARs of the cons cells are not changed; the cons cell that originally contained the element a in list still has a in its CAR after sorting, but it now appears in a different position in the list due to the change of CDRs. For example:

(setq nums '(1 3 2 6 5 4 0))
     ⇒ (1 3 2 6 5 4 0)

(sort nums '<)
     ⇒ (0 1 2 3 4 5 6)

nums
     ⇒ (1 2 3 4 5 6)

Note that the list in nums no longer contains 0; this is the same cons cell that it was before, but it is no longer the first one in the list. Don’t assume a variable that formerly held the argument now holds the entire sorted list! Instead, save the result of sort and use that. Most often we store the result back into the variable that held the original list:

(setq nums (sort nums '<))

@xref{Sorting}, for more functions that perform sorting. See documentation in @ref{Accessing Documentation}, for a useful example of sort.

1.7 Using Lists as Sets

A list can represent an unordered mathematical set—simply consider a value an element of a set if it appears in the list, and ignore the order of the list. To form the union of two sets, use append (as long as you don’t mind having duplicate elements). Other useful functions for sets include memq and delq, and their equal versions, member and delete.

Common Lisp note: Common Lisp has functions union (which avoids duplicate elements) and intersection for set operations, but GNU Emacs Lisp does not have them. You can write them in Lisp if you wish.

Function: memq object list

This function tests to see whether object is a member of list. If it is, memq returns a list starting with the first occurrence of object. Otherwise, it returns nil. The letter ‘q’ in memq says that it uses eq to compare object against the elements of the list. For example:

(memq 2 '(1 2 3 2 1))
     ⇒ (2 3 2 1)

(memq '(2) '((1) (2)))    ; (2) and (2) are not eq.
     ⇒ nil

Function: delq object list

This function removes all elements eq to object from list. The letter ‘q’ in delq says that it uses eq to compare object against the elements of the list, like memq.

When delq deletes elements from the front of the list, it does so simply by advancing down the list and returning a sublist that starts after those elements:

(delq 'a '(a b c))
≡
(cdr '(a b c))

When an element to be deleted appears in the middle of the list, removing it involves changing the CDRs (see section Altering the CDR of a List).

(setq sample-list '(1 2 3 (4)))
     ⇒ (1 2 3 (4))

(delq 1 sample-list)
     ⇒ (2 3 (4))

sample-list
     ⇒ (1 2 3 (4))

(delq 2 sample-list)
     ⇒ (1 3 (4))

sample-list
     ⇒ (1 3 (4))

Note that (delq 2 sample-list) modifies sample-list to splice out the second element, but (delq 1 sample-list) does not splice anything—it just returns a shorter list. Don’t assume that a variable which formerly held the argument list now has fewer elements, or that it still holds the original list! Instead, save the result of delq and use that. Most often we store the result back into the variable that held the original list:

(setq flowers (delq 'rose flowers))

In the following example, the (4) that delq attempts to match and the (4) in the sample-list are not eq:

(delq '(4) sample-list)
     ⇒ (1 3 (4))

The following two functions are like memq and delq but use equal rather than eq to compare elements. They are new in Emacs 19.

Function: member object list

The function member tests to see whether object is a member of list, comparing members with object using equal. If object is a member, memq returns a list starting with its first occurrence in list. Otherwise, it returns nil.

Compare this with memq:

(member '(2) '((1) (2)))  ; (2) and (2) are equal.
     ⇒ ((2))

(memq '(2) '((1) (2)))    ; (2) and (2) are not eq.
     ⇒ nil

;; Two strings with the same contents are equal.
(member "foo" '("foo" "bar"))
     ⇒ ("foo" "bar")

Function: delete object list

This function removes all elements equal to object from list. It is to delq as member is to memq: it uses equal to compare elements with object, like member; when it finds an element that matches, it removes the element just as delq would. For example:

(delete '(2) '((2) (1) (2)))
     ⇒ '((1))

Common Lisp note: The functions member and delete in GNU Emacs Lisp are derived from Maclisp, not Common Lisp. The Common Lisp versions do not use equal to compare elements.

1.8 Association Lists

An association list, or alist for short, records a mapping from keys to values. It is a list of cons cells called associations: the CAR of each cell is the key, and the CDR is the associated value. (This usage of “key” is not related to the term “key sequence”; it means any object which can be looked up in a table.)

Here is an example of an alist. The key pine is associated with the value cones; the key oak is associated with acorns; and the key maple is associated with seeds.

'((pine . cones)
  (oak . acorns)
  (maple . seeds))

The associated values in an alist may be any Lisp objects; so may the keys. For example, in the following alist, the symbol a is associated with the number 1, and the string "b" is associated with the list (2 3), which is the CDR of the alist element:

((a . 1) ("b" 2 3))

Sometimes it is better to design an alist to store the associated value in the CAR of the CDR of the element. Here is an example:

'((rose red) (lily white) (buttercup yellow)))

Here we regard red as the value associated with rose. One advantage of this method is that you can store other related information—even a list of other items—in the CDR of the CDR. One disadvantage is that you cannot use rassq (see below) to find the element containing a given value. When neither of these considerations is important, the choice is a matter of taste, as long as you are consistent about it for any given alist.

Note that the same alist shown above could be regarded as having the associated value in the CDR of the element; the value associated with rose would be the list (red).

Association lists are often used to record information that you might otherwise keep on a stack, since new associations may be added easily to the front of the list. When searching an association list for an association with a given key, the first one found is returned, if there is more than one.

In Emacs Lisp, it is not an error if an element of an association list is not a cons cell. The alist search functions simply ignore such elements. Many other versions of Lisp signal errors in such cases.

Note that property lists are similar to association lists in several respects. A property list behaves like an association list in which each key can occur only once. @xref{Property Lists}, for a comparison of property lists and association lists.

Function: assoc key alist

This function returns the first association for key in alist. It compares key against the alist elements using equal (@pxref{Equality Predicates}). It returns nil if no association in alist has a CAR equal to key. For example:

(setq trees '((pine . cones) (oak . acorns) (maple . seeds)))
     ⇒ ((pine . cones) (oak . acorns) (maple . seeds))
(assoc 'oak trees)
     ⇒ (oak . acorns)
(cdr (assoc 'oak trees))
     ⇒ acorns
(assoc 'birch trees)
     ⇒ nil

Here is another example in which the keys and values are not symbols:

(setq needles-per-cluster
      '((2 . ("Austrian Pine" "Red Pine"))
        (3 . "Pitch Pine")
        (5 . "White Pine")))

(cdr (assoc 3 needles-per-cluster))
     ⇒ "Pitch Pine"
(cdr (assoc 2 needles-per-cluster))
     ⇒ ("Austrian Pine" "Red Pine")

Function: assq key alist

This function is like assoc in that it returns the first association for key in alist, but it makes the comparison using eq instead of equal. assq returns nil if no association in alist has a CAR eq to key. This function is used more often than assoc, since eq is faster than equal and most alists use symbols as keys. @xref{Equality Predicates}.

(setq trees '((pine . cones) (oak . acorns) (maple . seeds)))

(assq 'pine trees)
     ⇒ (pine . cones)

On the other hand, assq is not usually useful in alists where the keys may not be symbols:

(setq leaves
      '(("simple leaves" . oak)
        ("compound leaves" . horsechestnut)))

(assq "simple leaves" leaves)
     ⇒ nil
(assoc "simple leaves" leaves)
     ⇒ ("simple leaves" . oak)

Function: rassq alist value

This function returns the first association with value value in alist. It returns nil if no association in alist has a CDR eq to value.

rassq is like assq except that the CDR of the alist associations is tested instead of the CAR. You can think of this as “reverse assq”, finding the key for a given value.

For example:

(setq trees '((pine . cones) (oak . acorns) (maple . seeds)))

(rassq 'acorns trees)
     ⇒ (oak . acorns)
(rassq 'spores trees)
     ⇒ nil

Note that rassq cannot be used to search for a value stored in the CAR of the CDR of an element:

(setq colors '((rose red) (lily white) (buttercup yellow)))

(rassq 'white colors)
     ⇒ nil

In this case, the CDR of the association (lily white) is not the symbol white, but rather the list (white). This can be seen more clearly if the association is written in dotted pair notation:

(lily white) ≡ (lily . (white))

Function: copy-alist alist

This function returns a two-level deep copy of alist: it creates a new copy of each association, so that you can alter the associations of the new alist without changing the old one.

(setq needles-per-cluster
      '((2 . ("Austrian Pine" "Red Pine"))
        (3 . "Pitch Pine")
        (5 . "White Pine")))
⇒
((2 "Austrian Pine" "Red Pine")
 (3 . "Pitch Pine")
 (5 . "White Pine"))

(setq copy (copy-alist needles-per-cluster))
⇒
((2 "Austrian Pine" "Red Pine")
 (3 . "Pitch Pine")
 (5 . "White Pine"))

(eq needles-per-cluster copy)
     ⇒ nil
(equal needles-per-cluster copy)
     ⇒ t
(eq (car needles-per-cluster) (car copy))
     ⇒ nil
(cdr (car (cdr needles-per-cluster)))
     ⇒ "Pitch Pine"
(eq (cdr (car (cdr needles-per-cluster)))
    (cdr (car (cdr copy))))
     ⇒ t

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