on meta programing

On Meta Programing

meta programing is a bad thing.

The text-book definition of meta programing is that you program the program. This definition is missing the gist. I explain why here.

what's some example of meta programing by definition?

• C and Cpp pre-processors.
• The eval function in python, JavaScript, and others.
• The lisp macros.

however, the defining quality of meta programing is not just programing programs, but rather, doing such that you went into a zone that's outside the model of your programing language's control facilities.

in WolframLang, it's a term-rewriting system. by definition, it's meta-programing, but here you do not actually go outside the model of the language, because WolframLang's model of computation, is, rewrite programs.

a better definition of meta-programing, is program the program and going outside the programing language's model of computation.