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22.7.2.6 Alist Example

Here is a longer example of how alists may be used in practice.

(define capitals '(("New York" . "Albany")
                   ("Oregon"   . "Salem")
                   ("Florida"  . "Miami")))

;; What's the capital of Oregon?
(assoc "Oregon" capitals)       => ("Oregon" . "Salem")
(assoc-ref capitals "Oregon")   => "Salem"

;; We left out South Dakota.
(set! capitals
      (assoc-set! capitals "South Dakota" "Pierre"))
capitals
=> (("South Dakota" . "Pierre")
    ("New York" . "Albany")
    ("Oregon" . "Salem")
    ("Florida" . "Miami"))

;; And we got Florida wrong.
(set! capitals
      (assoc-set! capitals "Florida" "Tallahassee"))
capitals
=> (("South Dakota" . "Pierre")
    ("New York" . "Albany")
    ("Oregon" . "Salem")
    ("Florida" . "Tallahassee"))

;; After Oregon secedes, we can remove it.
(set! capitals
      (assoc-remove! capitals "Oregon"))
capitals
=> (("South Dakota" . "Pierre")
    ("New York" . "Albany")
    ("Florida" . "Tallahassee"))