macroname

Macroname is a term used in macro systems to refer to the identifier assigned to a macro. The macroname is how a programmer invokes the macro and how the system references its definition during expansion. In languages with textual macros, such as C or C++, the macroname is the symbol introduced by the macro definition. For example, in a preprocessor directive like #define MAX(a,b) ((a) > (b) ? (a) : (b)), MAX is the macroname. In Lisp-family languages, the macroname corresponds to the macro symbol created by defmacro, such as (defmacro when (cond body) ...), where when is the macroname.

Naming and syntax: a macroname must conform to the language’s identifier rules and is typically case-sensitive. It should be distinct from keywords to avoid parsing ambiguity. The scope of a macroname depends on the language: some macro systems place macros in a global namespace, others in module or lexical scopes. Macro expansion can occur at compile time or preprocessing time, substituting the macroname with a body of code or a generated form.

There are common best practices for choosing macronames: use descriptive, unambiguous names; prefer names that indicate the macro’s purpose; avoid overly generic names and naming collisions through namespaces or prefixes; be mindful of hygiene rules that govern how identifiers within a macro are treated during expansion.

See also: macro expansion, hygiene in macro systems, macro languages, identifier naming conventions.