ifndef SymbolAsString
sclass symbol_Tester extends MasterSymbol {
  *(S text) { super(text, true); }
}

static WeakHashMap<MasterSymbol, Bool> symbol_map = newWeakHashMap();
endifndef

static Symbol symbol(S s) {
  ifdef SymbolAsString
  ret s;
  endifdef
  ifndef SymbolAsString
  if (s == null) null;
  synchronized(symbol_map) {
    // This is a trick that works because of how WeakHashMap compares keys.
    O e = call(symbol_map, 'getEntry, symbol_Tester(s));
    MasterSymbol sym = e == null ? null : ((WeakReference<MasterSymbol>) e).get();
    if (sym == null)
      symbol_map.put(sym = new MasterSymbol(s, true), true);
    ret sym;
  }
  endifndef
}

static Symbol symbol(CharSequence s) {
  if (s == null) null;
  ifdef SymbolAsString
  ret str(s);
  endifdef
  ifndef SymbolAsString
  if (s instanceof Symbol) ret (Symbol) s;
  if (s instanceof S) ret symbol((S) s);
  ret symbol(str(s));
  endifndef
}