# Hiding or exposing metaprogramming, was Re: How do I catch a

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/hiding-or-exposing-metaprogramming-was-re-how-do-i-catch-a/79188>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [December 13, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/hiding-or-exposing-metaprogramming-was-re-how-do-i-catch-a/79188 "2006-12-13T00:51:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Giles\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/848f3c/32.png) [@Giles\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Giles_B)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/hiding-or-exposing-metaprogramming-was-re-how-do-i-catch-a/79188/1 "2006-12-13T00:51:11Z")

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Actually I think this is a pretty interesting question, although I  
think “novice programmers” and “mediocre programmers” is pretty  
counter-productive terminology, especially when sometimes it’s you  
yourself using your own code. I like the term “client programmer”  
better.

I think really what you’re saying here is that metaprogramming should  
be reserved for code internal to APIs. I’d like to flip that around  
slightly, and say it’s a pretty good idea to wrap metaprogramming  
**in** APIs.

Saying that code which contains metaprogramming is “polluted” with it,  
I think that’s a bit too strident, but certainly, if you’ve got a  
metaprogramming technique which might go over somebody else’s head, or  
even your own a few days later, wrapping it up in something more  
intuitive can be a good thing.

However – all that being said, I’m working on a project where the  
other programmer is a business guy, and I’m giving him tons of  
metaprogramming in Rails controllers which he then uses in Rails  
views. I wouldn’t call him a mediocre programmer, but he’s certainly  
much more about the business side than the programming side. He can  
write code but I doubt he’d ever call himself a programmer. Probably  
the type of guy you’re thinking about. The thing is, all that  
metaprogramming doesn’t seem to be any kind of problem for him,  
probably because I set it up in such a way that although there is some  
arcane cleverness in there, the results are totally consistent and  
therefore easy to use.

So the converse to all this is that if you use the **ideas** behind  
good API design to code whatever you’re doing in a way that minimizes  
stress for client programmers, that’s probably more important than the  
literal separation. If the metaprogramming occurs in a sort of  
non-disruptive way, a literal separation isn’t always necessary. I  
think as a rule of thumb for design it’s a good idea, but at the same  
time, I don’t think it’s such a big deal.

–  
Giles B.  
[http://www.gilesgoatboy.org](http://www.gilesgoatboy.org)

> **[Giles Bowkett](http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com)**
>
> half-disavowed old blog. new blog at gilesbowkett.com

[http://gilesgoatboy.blogspot.com](http://gilesgoatboy.blogspot.com)