difference between (defalias 'A (symbol-function 'B)) and (defalias 'A 'B)

Question

I was reading subr.el and saw this code:

(defalias \'backward-delete-char \'delete-backward-char)
(defalias \'search-forward-regexp (symbol-function \'re-search-         


        

Answer 1

Well, it really is not the same thing... Here is a little game I just played:

(defun a () (message "hello"))
a
(a)
"hello"
(defalias 'b (symbol-function 'a))
(lambda nil (message "hello"))
(defalias 'c 'a)
a
(b)
"hello"
(c)
"hello"
(defun a () (message "howdy"))
a
(a)
"howdy"
(b)
"hello"
(c)
"howdy" ' c changed meaning, b did not...