,@(loop for (place value . rest) on place-value-plist by #'cddr
collect `(unless ,place (setf ,place ,value)))))
+(defmacro pop-n (place &optional (n 1))
+ "pops n items off of a list in place and returns their values in a new list
+
+ if n > the length of the list in place, then we return the full list,
+ setting the place to nil"
+ `(loop repeat ,n
+ while ,place
+ collect (pop ,place)))
+
(defun %get-int (v)
(etypecase v
(string (parse-integer v :junk-allowed t))