Quoting is a technique to modify the evaluation behaviour of expressions. This is achieved by wrapping the expression into a special form. The lisp reader will now evualate this special form instead of the original expression.
SXEmacs basically knows about 3 quoting forms: quote,
function and backquote. Moreover, all of these possess
an alternative read syntax, ', #' and `
respectively. In programs you will find almost exclusively the
abbreviated variants which also facilitate human reading of program
sources. You can test yourself in the example section below.