Tell me more ×  There is a fairly widespread consensus that
macros are a bad idea in most programming languages. (For
example, cf. .)  That said, I have the impression that macros
are not just in LaTeX for historical reasons --- there seems to
be some property of the typesetting domain that makes macros the
right tool. (This seems to be related to the fact that working
with LaTeX is very unlike programming in any mainstream
language.) Can anyone articulate why this might be the case? Or,
indeed, argue that macros are indeed a historical artefact?
Edit: this doesn't answer the question, but is closely related:
share|improve this question Does Andrew Stacey's answer to that
question give you more of an idea? He gives the opinion that it
helps the language "hide in the text", which is as good a reason
as any. –  Ryan Reich Sep 30 '12 at 4:07 As I understand, the
word “macro” hasn't exactly the same meaning between
TeX/C/Lisp/Excel/etc. –  morbusg Sep 30 '12 at 10:09 add comment
2 Answers  up vote 15 down vote