alt Hacker NewsThe C preprocessor allows you to define a limited DSL on top of C. This is... sometimes a good thing, and often convenient, even if it makes it hard to understand.
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jacquesm • 11/03/2025
For extremely small values of 'sometimes' where sometimes is constrained by the following expressions evaluating to 'true':
- you have no interest in maintaining your code
- your code will never be maintained by someone else
- you know your C preprocessor better than you know your C compiler
- your favorite language isn't available for this particular target
- you don't mind object level debugging
- your idea of a fun time is to spend a few hours per day memorizing code
- you really are smarter than everybody else
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I think _all_ programming is about finding an appropriate DSL for the problem at hand. First you need to understand the “language” of the problem then you develop a “lingo”.