S-expressions aren't actually necessary for macros to work. You just have to be able to separate "READ" from "EXPAND" (to use Lisp-ish terminology). I believe,

S-expressions aren't actually necessary for macros to work. You just have to be able to separate "READ" from "EXPAND" (to use Lisp-ish terminology). I believe, but am not sure, that this is possible for Go. (Of course, whether this is a good idea is another thing entirely. I probably wouldn't have included macros if I had been put in charge of Go 1.0, given Go's goals of simplicity.) More on this from my former colleague Dave Herman, who did his dissertation on macros: http://calculist.org/blog/2012/04/17/homoiconicity-isnt-the-point/ http://calculist.org/blog/2012/04/17/homoiconicity-isnt-the-...