[masak]

Fun side note on this:

Bel's macros are definitely macros and not Kernel-style operatives. Here is a comparison, for clarity:

(A) Bel's macros do a syntax->syntax transformation, but this expansion happens (according to the spec) in the evaluator, after concluding that the operator is a macro and not a function. (B) In the greater Lisp-and-Scheme tradition, macros do a syntax->syntax transformation, but at compile time. (Usually after "read" but before "eval".) In this sense, they are small compilers themselves. (This puts limitations on macros: they have to be "statically visible" in the code. You can't late-compute a macro at runtime in this system.) (C) Kernel's operatives do a syntax->"side effect" transformation, at that same late stage as Bel's macros. Kernel operatives are essentially functions, except that the evaluation of the operands (syntax) into arguments (values) has been suppressed. In this sense, operatives are small interpreters.

If an (A) macro is well-behaved, you can often "optimize" it either to a (B) form or a (C) form. In my Bel implementation, it took me ages to notice that I could do the latter. I documented it here: https://github.com/masak/alma/issues/302#issuecomment-992556...