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-<head>
-<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label whatmacros</title>
-</head><body>
-<h3>What are (TeX) macros</h3>
-<p/>TeX is a <em>macro processor</em>: this is a computer-science-y term
-meaning &#8220;text expander&#8221; (more or less); TeX typesets text as it
-goes along, but <em>expands</em> each macro it finds. TeX&#8217;s macros
-may include instructions to TeX itself, on top of the simple text
-generation one might expect.
-<p/>Macros are a <em>good thing</em>, since they allow the user to
-manipulate documents according to context. For example, the macro
-<code>\</code><code>TeX</code> is usually defined to produce &#8220;TEX&#8221; with the &#8216;E&#8217; lowered,
-but in these FAQs the default definition of the macro is
-overridden, and it simply expands to the letters &#8220;TeX&#8221;. (<em>You</em>
-may not think this a good thing, but the author of the macros has his
-reasons &#8211; see <a href="FAQ-logos.html">TeX-related logos</a>.)
-<p/>Macro names are conventionally built from a <code>\</code>
-followed by a sequence of letters, which may be upper or lower case
-(as in <code>\</code><code>TeX</code>, mentioned above). They may also be
-<code>\&lt;<i>any single character</i>&gt;</code>, which allows all
-sorts of oddities (many built in to most TeX macro sets, all the
-way up from the apparently simple &#8216;<code>\</code><code> </code>&#8217; meaning &#8220;insert a space
-here&#8221;).
-<p/>Macro programming can be a complicated business, but at their very
-simplest they need little introduction &#8212; you&#8217;ll hardly need to be
-told that:
-<blockquote>
-<pre>
-\def\foo{bar}
-</pre>
-</blockquote><p>
-replaces each instance of <code>\</code><code>foo</code> with the text &#8220;bar&#8221;. The
-command <code>\</code><code>def</code> is Plain TeX syntax for defining commands;
-LaTeX offers a macro <code>\</code><code>newcommand</code> that goes some way towards
-protecting users from themselves, but basically does the same thing:
-<blockquote>
-<pre>
-\newcommand{\foo}{bar}
-</pre>
-</blockquote><p>
-Macros may have &#8220;arguments&#8221;, which are used to substitute for marked
-bits of the macro expansion:
-<blockquote>
-<pre>
-\def\foo#1{This is a #1 bar}
-...
-\foo{2/4}
-</pre>
-</blockquote><p>
-or, in LaTeX speak:
-<blockquote>
-<pre>
-\newcommand{\foo}[1]{This is a #1 bar}
-...
-\foo{3/4}
-</pre>
-</blockquote><p>
-Macro writing can get very complicated, very quickly. If you are a
-beginner (La)TeX programmer, you are well advised to read something
-along the lines of the <a href="FAQ-books.html">TeXbook</a>; once you&#8217;re under
-way, <a href="FAQ-ol-books.html">TeX by Topic</a> is possibly a more satisfactory
-choice. Rather a lot of the answers in these FAQs tell you
-about various issues of how to write macros.
-<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=whatmacros">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=whatmacros</a>
-</body>