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Re: MzScheme and SML



Macros do not add semantic power to the language.  They arguably add
semantic power to the program.  The distinction is important.

The ML community has long had a different view on macros than the
Scheme community.  I understand where their view arises from, but I do
disagree with them.  Macros have many more uses than the ones Appel
lists.  See my GCSE 99 paper for a brief overview of some of them.  In
part, the fault is that of Schemers and Lispers, who have long abused
macros and thus earned the scorn of MLers.  (To this day, you will see
writers suggest macros as a way to perform inlining.)

Incorporating macros into a statically typed language is not too hard.
There is no inherent clash between the two.

Shriram