When you write macros, you're working one meta level up, since you're writing code that generates code (that generates code etc, but one level higher than usual

When you write macros, you're working one meta level up, since you're writing code that generates code (that generates code etc, but one level higher than usual). From a user perspective it's different. Macros are more limited; not first class and can't be passed around and called like functions.