clojure: What's the use of the #'/(var ...) form?

Question

In the compojure library in the core namespace, I see the following form:

(defn- compile-route
  "Compile a route in the form (method path & body) into a function."
  [method route bindings body]
  `(#'if-method ~method
     (#'if-route ~(prepare-route route)
       (fn [request#]
         (let-request [~bindings request#]
           (render (do ~@body) request#))))))

and

(defmacro GET "Generate a GET route."
  [path args & body]
  (compile-route :get path args body))

Further up in the file, the if-method and if-route functions are defined with defn-s.

I don't understand the meaning of the #' in this compile-route function though. The docs for (var ...) says:

The symbol must resolve to a var, and the Var object itself (not its value) is returned. The reader macro #'x expands to (var x).

But to me, in the context of what is happening (ie being called from a defmacro), it just sounds like it means the value of the symbol will be returned, which is the same as what substitutability sounds like:

(def x 5)
(+ x 7)
-> 12

ie, (+ x 7) expands to, or is the same as, (+ 5 7)

What am I missing here?

Answer 1

After looking at this for a while, I'm starting to suspect that it has something to do with the fact that the if-method and if-route functions are actually private ((defn- if-route ...)).

Also, for macros, when you do the back-tick quote (" ` ") you are actually getting the fully-namespace-specified symbol in the final expansion:

`(+ 2 3)

would expand to

(clojure.core/+ 2 3)

Since these methods are private, they won't be accessible in the normal expansion, therefore the var function is used, to get to the symbol that holds a reference to the actual function that must be invoked at this point in the expansion.