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+# Chapter 10: Code and macros
+
+_Where magic turns into science._
+
+---
+
+I've talked about many macros in this book.
+
+There's a macro for _this_ and a macro for _that_.
+
+You use macros for defining stuff, for making types and functions and lists, for doing pattern-matching, and for control-flow.
+
+There's a macro for everything.
+Yet, I haven't even shown a macro being defined yet.
+
+Quiet your mind, young grasshopper. You're about to be enlightened.
+
+But first, you need to learn a few things.
+
+## The AST
+
+The word **AST** stands for _Abstract Syntax Tree_.
+
+An AST is a representation of the syntax of a programming language, and compilers use them for the sake of analyzing the source-code (like, by type-checking it), and then generating the binary/byte-code output.
+
+You might think that's none of your business.
+Only compiler writers have to worry about that stuff, right?
+
+Oh, you have much to learn, young grasshopper.
+
+You see, the power of macros lies in the fact that (_to some extent_) users of the language can play the role of language designers and implementers.
+
+Macros allow you to implement your own features in the language and to have them _look and feel_ just like native features.
+
+I mean, beyond the native syntax for writing numbers, text, variants, tuples and records, every single thing you have written so far has been macros.
+
+Module statements? _Yep, macros_.
+
+Definition statements? _Yep, macros_.
+
+Function expressions? _Yep, macros_.
+
+And you'd have never suspected those weren't native Lux features had I not told you they were macros.
+
+Now, just imagine making your own!
+
+But macros work with the Lux _AST_, so that's the first thing you need to master.
+
+Check it out:
+
+```
+(type: #export Location
+ {#module Text
+ #line Nat
+ #column Nat})
+
+(type: #export (Ann m v)
+ {#meta m
+ #datum v})
+
+(type: #export (Code' w)
+ (#Bit Bit)
+ (#Nat Nat)
+ (#Int Int)
+ (#Rev Rev)
+ (#Frac Frac)
+ (#Text Text)
+ (#Identifier Name)
+ (#Tag Name)
+ (#Form (List (w (Code' w))))
+ (#Tuple (List (w (Code' w))))
+ (#Record (List [(w (Code' w)) (w (Code' w))])))
+
+(type: #export Code
+ (Ann Location (Code' (Ann Location))))
+```
+
+The `Code` type is the one you'll be interacting with, but all it does is wrap (recursively) the _incomplete_ `Code'` type, giving it some meta-data `Ann`otations to know where each _AST_ node comes from in your source-code.
+
+The real magic is in the `Code'` type, where you can see all the alternative syntactic elements.
+
+The `Name` type (from the `library/lux` module), is just a `[Text Text]` type.
+The first part holds the module/prefix of the identifier/tag, and the second part holds the name itself. So `library/lux/data/collection/list.reversed` becomes `["library/lux/data/collection/list" "reversed"]`, and `map` becomes `["" "map"]`.
+
+ `list.reversed` would become `["library/lux/data/collection/list" "reversed"]` anyway, because aliases get resolved prior to analysis and macro expansion.
+
+Forms are `(syntactic structures delimited by parentheses)`, and tuples are `[syntactic structures delimited by brackets]`.
+Records `{#have lists #of pairs}` of `Code`s instead of single `Code`s, because everything must come in key-value pairs.
+
+## Quotations
+
+We know everything we need to extract information from the `Code` type, but how do we build `Code` values?
+
+Do we have to build it with our bare hands using variants and tuples?
+
+That sounds... exhausting.
+
+Well, we don't have to. There are actually many nice tools for making our lives easier.
+
+One nice resource within our reach is the `library/lux/macro/code` module, which contains a variety of functions for building `Code` values, so we don't have to worry about cursors and variants and all that stuff.
+
+But, even with that, things would get tedious.
+Imagine having to generate an entire function definition (or something even larger), by having to call a bunch of functions for every small thing you want.
+
+Well, don't fret. The Lux Standard Library already comes with a powerful mechanism for easily generating any code you want and you don't even need to import it (i.e. it's in the `library/lux` module).
+
+```
+... Quotation as a macro.
+(' "YOLO")
+```
+
+Quotation is a mechanism that allows you to write the code you want to generate, and then builds the corresponding `Code` value.
+
+The `'` macro is the simplest version, which does exactly what I just described.
+
+This would turn the text `"YOLO"` into `[{#.module "" #.line 0 #.column 0} (#.Text "YOLO")]`.
+If you want to know what that would look like with the tools at `library/lux/macro/code`, it would be: `(text "YOLO")`.
+
+The beautiful thing is that `(' (you can use the "'" #macro [to generate {arbitrary code} without] worrying (about the "complexity")))`.
+
+```
+... Hygienic quasi-quotation as a macro.
+... Unquote (~) and unquote-splice (~+) must also be used as forms.
+... All unprefixed identifiers will receive their parent module's prefix if imported; otherwise will receive the prefix of the module on which the quasi-quote is being used.
+(` (def: (~ name)
+ (function ((~ name) (~+ args))
+ (~ body))))
+```
+
+This is a variation on the `'` macro that allows you to do templating with the code you want to generate.
+
+Everything you write will be generated _as is_, except those forms which begin with `~` or `~+`.
+
+`~` means: _evaluate this expression and use its `Code` value_.
+
+`~+` means: _the value of this expression is a list of `Code`s, and I want to splice all of them in the surrounding `Code` node_.
+
+With these tools, you can introduce a lot of complexity and customization into your code generation, which would be a major hassle if you had to build the `Code` nodes yourself.
+
+ You may be wondering what does "hygienic" means in this context.
+ It just means that if you use any identifier in your template which may refer to an in-scope definition or local variable, the identifier will be resolved to it.
+ Any identifier that does not correspond to any known in-scope definition or variable will trigger a compile-time error.
+ This ensures that if you make a mistake writing your template code, it will be easy to spot during development.
+ Also, it will be harder to collide (by mistake) with user code if you, for instance, write the code for making a local variable named `foo`, and then the person using your macro uses a different `foo` somewhere in their code.
+
+```
+... Unhygienic quasi-quotation as a macro.
+... Unquote (~) and unquote-splice (~+) must also be used as forms.
+(`' (def: (~ name)
+ (function ((~ name) (~+ args))
+ (~ body))))
+```
+
+Finally, there is this variation, which removes the hygiene check.
+
+Out of the 3 variations, the one you'll most likely use is the **2nd one**, since it provides both **safety** and **power**.
+
+## Macros
+
+Now that you know how to generate code like a pro, it's time to see how macros get made.
+
+First, let's check the type of macros:
+
+```
+(type: .public Macro
+ (primitive "#Macro"))
+```
+
+That does not look particularly useful.
+What the hell is a `"#Macro"`?
+
+Fundamentally, all macros are functions.
+However, the compiler cannot treat them as normal functions because they must be applied to code at compile-time, rather than run-time.
+
+For this reason, the Lux compiler must have some way to identify macros as distinct from functions.
+It does so by labelling (_type-wise_) with this funky type.
+
+There is, however, another type which elucidates what is going on with macros.
+
+```
+(type: .public Macro'
+ (-> (List Code) (Meta (List Code))))
+```
+
+You might remember from the previous chapter that you can only access the `Lux` compiler state inside of macros.
+Now, you can see how everything connects.
+
+You define macros by using the `macro:` macro (_so meta..._):
+
+```
+(macro: .public (name_of tokens)
+ {#.doc (doc "Given an identifier or a tag, gives back a 2 tuple with the module and name parts, both as Text."
+ (name_of #.doc)
+ "=>"
+ ["library/lux" "doc"])}
+ (case tokens
+ (^template [<tag>]
+ [(^ (list [_ (<tag> [module name])]))
+ (\ meta.monad in (list (` [(~ (code.text module)) (~ (code.text name))])))])
+ ([#Identifier] [#Tag])
+
+ _
+ (meta.failure "Wrong syntax for 'name_of'.")))
+```
+
+Here's another example:
+
+```
+(macro: .public (else tokens state)
+ {#.doc (doc "Allows you to provide a default value that will be used"
+ "if a (Maybe x) value turns out to be #.None."
+ "Note: the expression for the default value will not be computed if the base computation succeeds."
+ (else +20 (#.Some +10))
+ "=>"
+ +10
+ --------------------------
+ (else +20 #.None)
+ "=>"
+ +20)}
+ (case tokens
+ (^ (.list else maybe))
+ (let [g!temp (macro.gensym "")]
+ (#.Right [state (.list (` (case (~ maybe)
+ (#.Some (~ g!temp))
+ (~ g!temp)
+
+ #.None
+ (~ else))))]))
+
+ _
+ (#.Left "Wrong syntax for else")))
+```
+
+ You may want to read [Appendix C](appendix_c.md) to learn about the pattern-matching macros used in these examples.
+
+As you can see, I'm using both quotation and the functions from the `library/lux/macro/code` module to generate code here.
+
+I'm also using the `gensym` function from `library/lux/macro`, which generates unique identifiers for usage within code templates in order to avoid collision with any code provided by the user of the macro.
+
+The macro receives the raw `List` of `Code` tokens and must process them manually to extract any information it needs for code generation.
+After that, a new `List` of `Code` tokens must be generated.
+
+If there are any macros in the output, they will be _expanded_ further until only primitive/native syntax remains that the Lux compiler can then analyze and compile.
+
+ You may be wondering what is the relationship between the `Macro` and `Macro'` types.
+ When you define a macro, you define it as a function, which is to say a `Macro'` type.
+ But once it has been defined, it gets re-labelled as a `Macro`, so that way the Lux compiler can distinguish it from other functions.
+ This is all done for you by the `macro:` macro, so there's no need to worry about it.
+
+---
+
+You have learned how to use one of the greatest superpowers that Lux has to offer.
+
+But, if you're like me, you might be getting the nagging feeling that something is not right here.
+
+I mean, if I have to pattern-match against the code I receive; what happens when my macros have complex inputs?
+
+Clearly, analyzing the input code is far more difficult than generating it with the quoting macros.
+
+Don't worry about it.
+Because in the next chapter, you will learn a more sophisticated method of macro definition that will make writing complex macros a breeze.
+
+See you in the next chapter!
+
diff --git a/documentation/book/the_lux_programming_language/chapter_9.md b/documentation/book/the_lux_programming_language/chapter_9.md
index 5820ecaaa..ef6803440 100644
--- a/documentation/book/the_lux_programming_language/chapter_9.md
+++ b/documentation/book/the_lux_programming_language/chapter_9.md
@@ -164,5 +164,5 @@ However, I wanted to give you a taste of what's possible in order to whet your a
In the next chapter, I'll complete this puzzle, and you'll be given access to a power greater than you've ever known (_unless you've already been a lisper for a while_).
-See you in the next chapter!
+See you in [the next chapter](chapter_10.md)!