Question about clojure namespaces and macros

Question

Suppose I've got a bunch of namespaces (apple, banana, orange). In these namespaces I use the eat macro, which calls (not "generates", calls) the peel function. The peel function is different for each fruit, but the macros are identical, and fairly big, so I'd like to create a fruit namespace that contains the eat macro. But when I call the eat macro from the apple namespace, the eat macro should call the apple/peel function.

To illustrate (but this doesn't work):

(ns fruit)
(defmacro eat [] (peel))

(ns apple)
(defn peel [] (prn "peeled apple"))
(fruit/eat)

(ns banana)
(defn peel [] (prn "peeled banana"))
(fruit/eat)

To emphasize, this means that the peel function should be called when, and only when, the macro is expanded, as in this example.

(ns apple)
(defn peel [] (prn "peeled apple"))
(defmacro eat [] (peel))
(macroexpand-1 '(eat))

So, any ideas on how to combine macros and polymorphism?

Answer 1

What you're describing is not polymorphism but what is called local capture. You want the eat macro to "capture" the local definition of peel.

This is considered bad style in most Lisps, especially Clojure, as it can lead to subtle and unpredictable bugs.

A better solution is to pass the correct peel to the eat macro when you call it:

(ns fruit)
(defmacro eat [peeler] `(~peeler))

(ns apple)
(defn peel [] (prn "Peeled an apple"))
(fruit/eat peel)

If you really want to do local capture, you can force it with a ~' (unquote-quote) in the macro:

(ns fruit)
(defmacro eat [] `(~'peel))