Erlang vs Elixir Macros

Question

I have came across some Erlang code which I am trying to convert to Elixir to help me learn both of the languages and understand the differences. Macros and metaprogramming in general is a topic I am still trying to get my head around, so hopefully you will understand my confusion.

The Erlang code

-define(p2(MAT, REP), 
        p2(W = MAT ++ STM) -> m_rep(0, W, STM, REP))

% where m_rep is a function already defined.

To me, it seems that in the above code, there is two separate definitions of the p2 macro that map to a private function called m_rep. In Elixir though, it seems that it is only possible to have one pattern matching definition. Is it possible to have different ones in Elixir too?

Answer 1

These are not two definitions. The first line is the macro, the second line is the replacement. The confusing bit is that the macro has the same name as the function for which it is generating clauses. For example when using your macro like this:

?p2("a", "b");
?p2("c", "d").

the above will be expanded to:

p2(w = "a" ++ stm) -> m_rep(0, w, stm, "b");
p2(w = "c" ++ stm) -> m_rep(0, w, stm, "d").

You can use erlc -P to produce a .P file that will show you the effects of macro expansion on your code. Check out this slightly simpler, compilable example:

-module(macro).
-export([foo/1]).

-define(foo(X),
        foo(X) -> X).

?foo("bar");
?foo("baz");
?foo("qux").

Using erlc -P macro.erl you will get the following output to macro.P:

-file("macro.erl", 1).

-module(macro).

-export([foo/1]).

foo("bar") ->
    "bar";
foo("baz") ->
    "baz";
foo("qux") ->
    "qux".

In Elixir you can define multiple function clauses using macros as well. It is more verbose, but I think it is also much clearer. The Elixir equivalent would be:

defmodule MyMacros do
  defmacro p2(mat, rep) do
    quote do
      def p2(w = unquote(mat) ++ stm) do
        m_rep(0, w, stm, unquote(rep))
      end
    end
  end
end

which you can use to define multiple function clauses, just like the erlang counterpart:

defmodule MyModule do
  require MyMacros

  MyMacros.p2('a', 'b')
  MyMacros.p2('c', 'd')
end

Answer 2

I can't help myself here. :-) If it's the macros you are after then using LFE (Lisp Flavoured Erlang) gives you much better macro handling than either erlang or elixir. It also is compatible with both.