A symbol object stands for the symbol itself, not the value.
Example:
'abc
(symbol "abc")
These guys are the same thing. They are a symbol object.
In runtime, you can evaluate a symbol to find out the value associated with them.
;;; suppose you had a variable named "abc"
; (def abc 20)
(eval 'abc)
(eval (symbol "abc")) ;; ==> 20
A var is an object holding the value of a symbol.
(def ^:dynamic a 3)
(binding [a 30]
(var-set (var a) 300)
(println a)
(var-set (resolve (symbol "a")) 3000)
(println a)
(var-set #'a 30000)
(println a)
(set! a 30000) (println a)
)
1. In compile time (var a) is resolved to the var object itself.
2. In runtime, (resolve 'a) or (resolve (symbol "a")) is something stands for the var object itself.
// #'xxx is a macro, expands to (var xxx)
