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macro |
7 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Macro- \Mac"ro-\ [Gr. makro`s, adj.] A combining form signifying long, large great; as macrodiagonal, macrospore. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: macro adj : (combining form) very large in scale or scope or capability; "`macro' in the word `macroscopic' is a combining form" n : a single computer instruction that results in a series of instructions in machine language From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]: macro- pref. Large Opposite of {micro-}. In the mainstream and among other technical cultures (for example, medical people) this competes with the prefix {mega-}, but hackers tend to restrict the latter to quantification. From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]: macro /mak'roh/ n. [techspeak] A name (possibly followed by a formal {arg} list) that is equated to a text or symbolic expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the substitution of actual arguments) by a macro expander. This definition can be found in any technical dictionary what those won't tell you is how the hackish connotations of the term have changed over time. The term `macro' originated in early assemblers, which encouraged the use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as {HLL}s, only to fall from favor as improving compiler technology marginalized assembler programming (see {languages of choice}). Nowadays the term is most often used in connection with the C preprocessor, LISP, or one of several special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion facility (such as TeX or Unix's [nt]roff suite). Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective `macros' is now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose application control language (whether or not the language is actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities such as the `keyboard macros' supported in some text editors (and PC TSR or Macintosh INIT/CDEV keyboard enhancers). From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: macro- Prefix large Opposite of {micro-}. In the mainstream and among other technical cultures (for example, medical people) this competes with the prefix {mega-}, but hackers tend to restrict the latter to quantification. [{Jargon File}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: MACRO 1. Assembly language for {VAX/VMS}. 2. {PL/I}-like language with extensions for string processing. "MACRO: A Programming Language", S.R. Greenwood, SIGPLAN Notices 14(9):80-91 (Sep 1979). [{Jargon File}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: macro A name (possibly followed by a {formal argument} list) that is equated to a text or symbolic expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the substitution of {actual arguments}) by a macro expander. The term macro" originated in early {assembler}s, which encouraged the use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as {HLL}s, only to fall from favour as improving {compiler} technology marginalised {assembly language} programming (see {languages of choice}). Nowadays the term is most often used in connection with the {C preprocessor}, {Lisp}, or one of several special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion facility (such as {TeX} or {Unix}'s {troff} suite). Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective macros" is now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose application control language (whether or not the language is actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities such as the "keyboard macros" supported in some text editors (and {PC} {TSR}s or {Macintosh} INIT/CDEV keyboard enhancers). (1994-12-06)
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