[beemoe]

I don't know what qualifies as "really good examples" but there are lots of random things that use metaprogramming in some capacity and are popular. Lots of IDLs, serialization formats, ORMS etc. I am thinking stuff like Protocol Buffers, Hibernate, Swagger, etc.

[MichaelGG]

I dunno, it seems like metaprogramming seems to refer to something more powerful than just reflecting over definitions, which is mainly what those things need. Although some ORMs emit runtime code.

I guess my question is better phased as "Ruby goes on a lot about metaprogramming. I've used .NET reflection quite a bit. What does Ruby's metaprogramming really enable that I'm missing out on?"

[vinceguidry]

I actually like Ruby's limited and verbose meta-programming. It's just painful enough that when I get the urge to reach for it, I think just that much harder about ways to go about what I'm trying to do without it.

And the methods themselves, while verbose and clumsy, are actually fairly transparent and intention-revealing. I understood perfectly what the article author was trying to do and why.

Ruby is expressive enough that you usually don't need it, and when you do need it, the stark stylistic difference between the normal methods and the meta-programming code feels safe and comforting. You see `define_method` or `Class.new` and your brain instantly reads it as magic and start wondering what the hell caused the programmer to start delving into the hard stuff.

You almost never see meta-programming in Ruby where it wasn't needed, and it's almost always limited to solving one or two problems.

In my own brief foray into C#, it wasn't long before I found a problem that, when brought to a more experienced coworker, he solved with reflection. I couldn't remember the details, but I knew that had I had to solve it in Ruby, I'd never need anything like that.