On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 1:32 PM, Alan Malloy <a...@malloys.org> wrote:
> This is how every macro and special form works. I know you like to > complain, but the alternative is simply not possible: macros have complete > control of expanding their bodies, and any macros therein are expanded > later, not before. Try writing a macro system that goes the other way, and > see how disastrous the result is. Precisely because "macros have complete control" of their bodies, it is not true that "any macros therein are expanded later, not before". A macro can, at its discretion, choose to macroexpand its arguments if it wants to. It's not always unreasonable to do this: I wrote a parallel let macro that expands the binding expressions in its binding vector to find out what names are occur free in them. That's much easier to do after fully macroexpanding the forms, since you only have to deal with the five or so primitive binding forms. (In that case the macroexpansion was only done for ease of investigating the forms, and the un-expanded versions were what were interpolated into the return value of the macro, but that's beside the point; a macro *can* expand its arguments.) -- Ben Wolfson "Human kind has used its intelligence to vary the flavour of drinks, which may be sweet, aromatic, fermented or spirit-based. ... Family and social life also offer numerous other occasions to consume drinks for pleasure." [Larousse, "Drink" entry] -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
