2 ms·

Meta programming is still “trivial” (for the lack of a better word) in a lisp without using macros.

• andsoitis 4y ago
  > Meta programming is still “trivial” (for the lack of a better word) in a lisp without using macros is there not a whole class of problems that are not trivial if you cannot control evaluation of forms / expressions? this is one of the things (non-reader) macros provide.
  • sparkie 4y ago
    You can still somewhat control evaluation with quote and/or list.
  • a1369209993 4y ago
    > if you cannot control evaluation of forms / expressions Assuming quote works, you can do: (eval (macro-expand '( # rest of file goes here ))) which I think technically meets the standards for "trivial", albeit annoying. (Edit: Although it'd have to be eval-with-macro-expand if you want proper first-class macros.)
  • dgb23 4y ago
    “Trivial” is the wrong word, but it’s fairly known/common to write an embedded interpreter. The line between interpreting and just plain programming is very blurry in a lisp.