Here is a longer example of how alists may be used in practice.
(define capitals '(("New York" . "Albany") ("Oregon" . "Salem") ("Florida" . "Miami"))) ;; What's the capital of Oregon? (assoc "Oregon" capitals) ⇒ ("Oregon" . "Salem") (assoc-ref capitals "Oregon") ⇒ "Salem" ;; We left out South Dakota. (set! capitals (assoc-set! capitals "South Dakota" "Pierre")) capitals ⇒ (("South Dakota" . "Pierre") ("New York" . "Albany") ("Oregon" . "Salem") ("Florida" . "Miami")) ;; And we got Florida wrong. (set! capitals (assoc-set! capitals "Florida" "Tallahassee")) capitals ⇒ (("South Dakota" . "Pierre") ("New York" . "Albany") ("Oregon" . "Salem") ("Florida" . "Tallahassee")) ;; After Oregon secedes, we can remove it. (set! capitals (assoc-remove! capitals "Oregon")) capitals ⇒ (("South Dakota" . "Pierre") ("New York" . "Albany") ("Florida" . "Tallahassee"))