file: job.t package: muf status: alpha
I am reluctant to introduce text macros into Muq: The problem is that text macros tend to be very language-specific, and Muq is intended to be a multi-lingual programming environment.
Any significant accumulation of header files containing important information recorded as text macros could quickly lead to a maintainance nightmare of trying to translate these header files into formats suitable for other languages on the system, and the prospect of loss of access to such header files would pose a significant disincentive to experimentation with new languages on Muq.
Inline functions seem a more attractive alternative. Inline functions can do much of what macros are usually used for with equal efficiency, while remaining much more language- independent: There is no obvious reason inline functions coded in Muq MUF cannot be called from Muq Lisp, and vice versa.
It is intended that MUF functions be flagged as
inline-expandable simply by including the keyword
pleaseInline somewhere in their body -- presumably
normally at or near the beginning.
The MUF compiler is not required to inline such functions, but it is permitted and encouraged to do so.
Function inlining is not yet (version -1.5.0) implemented in the Muq MUF compilers, however.
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