1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
3 @c Copyright (C) 2001-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
7 @setfilename back-cover
8 @settitle GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual
12 @center @titlefont {GNU Emacs Lisp}
16 Most of the GNU Emacs text editor is written in the programming
17 language called Emacs Lisp. You can write new code in Emacs Lisp and
18 install it as an extension to the editor. However, Emacs Lisp is more
19 than a mere ``extension language''; it is a full computer programming
20 language in its own right. You can use it as you would any other
23 Because Emacs Lisp is designed for use in an editor, it has special
24 features for scanning and parsing text as well as features for handling
25 files, buffers, displays, subprocesses, and so on. Emacs Lisp is
26 closely integrated with the editing facilities; thus, editing commands
27 are functions that can also conveniently be called from Lisp programs,
28 and parameters for customization are ordinary Lisp variables.
30 This manual describes Emacs Lisp. Generally speaking, the earlier
31 chapters describe features of Emacs Lisp that have counterparts in
32 many programming languages, and later chapters describe features that
33 are peculiar to Emacs Lisp or relate specifically to editing.