So, I know that elisp has historically lacked lexical scope, so setting variables without a prefix has the potential for name clashes since even a variable setq

So, I know that elisp has historically lacked lexical scope, so setting variables without a prefix has the potential for name clashes since even a variable setq'd into existence inside a defun will be added to the global namespace. I did an experiment to double check it's still true in a recent-ish emacs: (defun my-fun () (setq test-123-456 'this-is-a-test)) (my-fun) test-123-456 => this-is-a-test There is some information in the info file under elisp about lexical binding, but you can just use let to keep variables in a lexical scope. (defun my-other-fun () (let ((test-789 'this-is-another-test)) test-789)) (my-other-fun) test-789 => *** Eval error *** Symbol’s value as variable is void: test-789