An update on Dart macros and data serialization
1–10 of 125 posts
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#2[deleted]
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#3Former Eng. Dir for Dart, co-founder of Flutter, here.
I'd like to believe this is a good thing for the Dart project, but only time will tell. My hot take here: https://shorebird.dev/blog/dart-macros/
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#4This is good news. The dart language has been getting more complicated without corresponding quality of life improvements. A first class record object without messing around with macros would be a great start.
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#5Maybe it's time to just recognize that lisp-style macros-as-language-syntax features just aren't worth the struggle and grief?
The big metaprogramming feature traditionally implemented in macros, type generation, is already provided in some form by all major languages already.
And an awful lot (and I mean an awful lot) of good work can be done at the string replacement level with cpp. And generating code upstream of the compiler entirely via e.g. python scripts or templating engines is a very reasonable alternative too. And at lower levels generating code programmatically via LLVM and GPU shaders is well-trodden and mature.
Basically, do "macros" really have a home as a first class language feature anymore?
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#6Why is it that Lisp family macros are easy to implement and use, but not so in other languages?
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#7Why is it that Lisp family macros are easy to implement and use, but not so in other languages?
Are Lisp macros easy to use? My understanding was that Lisp code is notoriously difficult to understand if you didn't write it, largely because of the obscenely powerful macro system that makes it too easy to be too clever. Which is essentially the same complaint that everyone has about every macro system.
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#8What will the Dart team focus on instead? I wish the cross-compilation issue was taken to a higher priority, I mean Flutter already kinda of solved it.
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#9Why is it that Lisp family macros are easy to implement and use, but not so in other languages?
in Scheme you can redefine `define` to be number 5. Easy to implement, but a nightmare in real world scenarios [0]. That's why languages like Go became popular, they're trashy, boring, and dumb, but that's exactly what's needed in big projects.
[0]: imagine your colleague wrote a macro that redefines for loops because at the time, it made life easier for him.
Re: An update on Dart macros and data serialization
#10Maybe it's time to just recognize that lisp-style macros-as-language-syntax features just aren't worth the struggle and grief? The big metaprogramming feature traditionally implemented in macros, type generation, is already provided in some form by all major languages already. And an awful lot (and I mean an awful lot) of good work can be done at the string replacement level with cpp. And generating code upstream of…
In another world, macros could have filled the role that programmable yaml fills today.