Re: Explanation of macros; Haskell macros

From: Stephen J. Bevan (stephen_at_dino.dnsalias.com)
Date: 11/07/03 

Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 02:22:21 GMT

"Coby Beck" <cbeck@mercury.bc.ca> writes:
[big snip]
> But back to macros, and really any language feature, they are all just tools
> and it is always a judgment call as to what the best tool for a job is and
> judgements are always subjective. It is very hard to convince anyone that a
> tool they are completely unfamiliar with is the best one for some problem
> they never thought they had.

Indeed. That's why I suggested if one wants to convince someone of
the utility of macros one has to find out what problems they are
trying to solve and show how macros can help them solve those
problems (obviously takes time and effort). Attempts to show the
utility of macros by showing how one solves one's own problems using
them tend to miss the mark unless one is lucky and others are trying
to solve the same problems.