In Chapter 1 an example of the use of lists to represent a collection of items of information about rooms was used to introduce a number of features of the language Pop-11. We have occasionally used lists to illustrate other points in preceding chapters. This chapter explains in more detail why lists are important, how they are implemented and how they can be used.
The chapter will provide more general information on syntax for constructing lists, together with an overview of the basic procedures available for operating on lists including the two list-pattern matchers provided in Pop-11.