of course we can do a lot without any macros, but ...

# language-proposals

[rrader]

of course we can do a lot without any macros, but also we can do a lot without inline functions 😉

[elizarov]

There is a huge different between inline function and macros. Toolability that is. Inline functions let you solve many issues without introducing toolability problems

[rrader]

What toolability problems introducing macros? Inline function body is inserted in body of another functions, with macros is almost the same, AST is inserted in body of other functions

[dmitry.petrov]

Because there's little to no reason for having macros that just reuse code by copying ASTs.
There are existing language abstractions for that - plain old functions, for example.
Why exactly it has to be a macro is still unclear.

[rrader]

AST can be generated by libraries

[dmitry.petrov]

Sure. And again, why?
There are some problems that are usually solved with macros, but for some strange reason we didn't touch any of them yet 🙂

[dmitry.petrov]

Hint: metaprogramming.

[rrader]

And again, why?

for better performance and less memory allocations

[dmitry.petrov]

If you have a performance problem and want to solve it with macros... you are in a rather deep trouble 🙂

[rrader]

something like https://gist.github.com/anonymous/f6f7b85205cc8952c8b3462bef3016af

[poohbar]

Please, please do not add macros. Keep the language simple and the code readable.