The issue is that many Lisp programmers are .. not great at choosing and naming abstractions. Even when they are, the goals of the program will shift over time, leading to leaky abstractions and macros with names and semantics that no longer exactly match.
In such cases, there's a lot of work required to essentially learn the entire new mini programming language built within Lisp.
That said, there are cases where nothing else but a macro will do. These tend to be abstractions related to the language itself more thain DSLs. Where to draw the line is an art rather than a science, and it can work well -- or go horribly wrong -- on both sides.
In such cases, there's a lot of work required to essentially learn the entire new mini programming language built within Lisp.
That said, there are cases where nothing else but a macro will do. These tend to be abstractions related to the language itself more thain DSLs. Where to draw the line is an art rather than a science, and it can work well -- or go horribly wrong -- on both sides.