Advice and Byte Code

Not all functions can be reliably advised. The byte compiler may choose to replace a call to a function with a sequence of instructions that doesn’t call the function you were interested in altering.

This usually happens due to one of the three following mechanisms:

byte-compile properties

If a function’s symbol has a byte-compile property, that property will be used instead of the symbol’s function definition. See Byte-Compilation Functions.

byte-optimize properties

If a function’s symbol has a byte-optimize property, the byte compiler may rewrite the function arguments, or decide to use a different function altogether.

compiler-macro declare forms

A function can have a special compiler-macro declare form in its definition (see The declare Form) that defines an expander to call when compiling the function. The expander could then cause the produced byte-code not to call the original function.