From: Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>
To: "Help-Gnu-Emacs (help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org)" <help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>
Cc: Emanuel Berg <moasenwood@zoho.eu>
Subject: FW: [External] : Re: Why is defun not executed during load-file?
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2021 14:18:56 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <SA2PR10MB4474E7AF7F5AC57EF39DCEBBF3389@SA2PR10MB4474.namprd10.prod.outlook.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 87a6o22z81.fsf@zoho.eu
> >> Hm ... interesting. Yeah, maybe we should start do that more?
> >
> > Not really: it's better to avoid macros when you can.
> > But it's better to use macros than to use `eval`.
>
> Ah, that's what I thought all along but it sounded cool when
> Mr Adams said it wasn't evaluated anymore but reduced (?) ...
Mr. Adams also said:
If you mean use `defmacro' more or something, then let
me be clear that I'm NOT suggesting that. I'm not
suggesting that people should define more Lisp macros.
In general, don't define a macro if a function will do
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
what you want.
I just wanted to point out that I think the supposed
difficulty or bugginess of defining macros is due partly
(largely?) to the fact that we (all of us) write macros
much less often than we write functions.
> Can one summarize in human language without references to Lisp
> perhaps when macros are used? I used them so seldom I don't
> know why people use them, even. I guess I did so good now I'm
> ignorant instead.
Syntax transformation: sexp1 to sexp2, followed typically
(and automatically) by evaluation of sexp2.
Without the evaluation step (i.e., with only "expansion"),
a macro just substitutes one sexp (that's an expression -
syntax) for another.
When do you want to do syntax transformation? Typically
to define a domain-specific language (which nevertheless
has Lisp-like syntax). And "DSL" here can mean just
define some accessor functions (macros) that speak more
directly to the purpose/intent/meaning of the thing
accessed.
Another typical use is to define a control structure,
that is, something that need not evaluate all of its
args before invoking the body. E.g., a conditional or
other predicate. You can't define something like `if'
with `defun' in Elisp. You can defined it as a macro.
I said all of this before, with examples:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-gnu-emacs/2021-05/msg01157.html
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2021-06-07 14:18 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 28+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2021-05-30 22:48 Why is defun not executed during load-file? Drew Adams
2021-05-30 22:57 ` Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
2021-05-31 2:05 ` [External] : " Drew Adams
2021-05-31 2:56 ` Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
2021-05-31 5:05 ` Drew Adams
2021-05-31 19:20 ` Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
2021-05-31 19:47 ` Stefan Monnier via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
2021-05-31 20:09 ` Marcin Borkowski
2021-06-07 2:19 ` Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
2021-06-07 6:27 ` Jean Louis
2021-06-07 14:18 ` Drew Adams [this message]
2021-06-07 14:41 ` FW: " Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
2021-05-31 21:40 ` Example use of macro to minimize and generalize the code Jean Louis
2021-05-31 23:37 ` Michael Heerdegen
2021-05-31 23:59 ` Jean Louis
2021-06-01 0:34 ` Michael Heerdegen
2021-06-01 0:39 ` Jean Louis
2021-06-01 0:59 ` Michael Heerdegen
2021-06-01 1:25 ` Jean Louis
2021-06-01 14:02 ` Michael Heerdegen
2021-06-01 16:33 ` Jean Louis
2021-06-01 16:54 ` Yuri Khan
2021-06-01 17:24 ` Jean Louis
2021-06-01 17:57 ` Yuri Khan
2021-06-01 18:12 ` Jean Louis
2021-05-31 21:45 ` Example use of macro to minimize and generalize the code (2) Jean Louis
2021-05-31 21:48 ` [External] : Re: Why is defun not executed during load-file? Michael Heerdegen
2021-05-31 23:41 ` Drew Adams
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