lexical vs dynamic binding in editor macro languages.

[gjc%bucsf.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (George J. Carrette)]

It is very convenient to have dynamic binding in an editor extension
language because of the amount of state information and implied
arguments laying around. So even when you start with a lexically
scoped language, (e.g. VAX-NIL, in which the Steve editor was written)
you still end up using a lot of special variables. Especially if you
were influenced by multics emacs, zmacs, its emacs.

Editor authors usually implement their own CLOSURE mechanism as well,
and environment editing/augmenting mechanisms too. Usually terms like
"editor bindings," "buffer bindings," and "mode bindings" come into
play. It is usually quite interesting to see how the implementor
manages all these environment issues. 

-gjc