higher-order macro

A means of expressing certain higher-order functions in a first order language. Proposed by Phil Wadler. Higher-order macros cannot be recursive at the top level but they may contain recursive definitions. E.g.

map f l = m l where m [] = [] m (x:xs) = f x : m xs

Expanding a call to this macro is equivalent to specialising a call to map in its first argument.

See partial evaluation.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

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