From: Jim Freeze <jim@...>
Date: 2005-09-27T14:01:00+09:00
Subject: Re: Fwd: Lisp macros

On 9/26/05, James Britt <james_b@neurogami.com> wrote:
> Joe Van Dyk wrote:
>
> Anyway, there have been sporadic discussions both here and on ruby-core
> about adding true Lisp-style macros to Ruby.  My understanding is that
> while Ruby can do assorted flips and twists, it cannot do quite the same
> sort of things as found in Lisp (and I hope a true Lisper here can
> elaborate on this); I also believe that Matz is less than enamored with
> idea of adding this to Ruby (and I hope a true Matz can elaborate on
> this, too).

Matz has said (at the Lightweight Language Conf) that Ruby will never
have macros because they are too easily abused, by the average person,
to mutate the language.

Yes, Ruby has continuations and one can abuse them, but you have to
be really smart. The average person won't even use them, let alone
abuse them. :)

--
Jim Freeze