I am interested in what you think about generating functions at compile time (with a macro) from data. The specific use case I am thinking about pertains to libraries for large web services with a lot of endpoints. A cost-benefit analysis could probably be done for what size is appropriate, but lets just assume the number of endpoints is large enough for you to start thinking about this.
Potential advantages include: - Less boilerplate. It would be less annoying to maintain data that represents each endpoint and generate the boilerplate than it is to maintain a lot of repetitive code. - Shareable. The work done to maintain the endpoint data could be used by multiple libraries for multiple languages. In fact, it could be maintained by the web service itself. Potential disadvantages include: - Limited discoverability. If the code is generated at compile time, there is no direct source for it, which may hinder the ability to view or generate documentation with your favorite tool(s). - Complicated edge cases. Endpoints that require extra code are usually edge cases, but not always. Regardless, breaking from the template may complicate the code further. (I don't think this is a difficult problem to solve, though.) One way to alleviate the "limited discoverability" problem is to generate source code at build time. This is what you would do in langauges like Java, and that has always left me frustrated, so I am not inclined to think it's a good idea. However, feel free to make the case! A language like Clojure makes doing this relatively easy, but is it simple? Thanks, ;; Jeremy -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
