higher-order macro

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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.

Nearby terms: high density « Higher Education National Software Archive « higher-order function « higher-order macro » High-level Data Link Control » high-level language » high memory area

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