Can Scala macros be defined inside a class (as methods of that class)?

Question

I need Scala macros (reify, quasiquote, macro impl) for my Scala assertions library.

---

I want to be able to do this:

object1.assertEquals(object2) // success: object1 = object2

Or like this:

3.assertEquals(1 + 1) // failure: 1 + 1 /= 3 

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Can Scala macros be defined inside an implicit class?

Answer 1

The implementation has to be in an object or a macro bundle, but the method that is implemented by the macro can be in an implicit class. Notice val self = q"${c.prefix}.self" that is needed to get the reference to the object that is wrapped by the implicit class.

import scala.language.experimental.macros
import scala.reflect.macros.blackbox.Context


object assertions {
  implicit class AssertEquals[T](val self: T) extends AnyVal {
    def assertEquals(other: T): Unit = macro AssertionMacros.assertEquals[T]
  }

  object AssertionMacros {
    def assertEquals[T](c: Context)(other: c.Tree): c.Tree = {
      import c.universe._
      val self = q"${c.prefix}.self"
      q"_root_.scala.Predef.assert($self == $other)"
    }
  }
}

Usage:

scala> import assertions._
import assertions._

scala> "foo" assertEquals "foo"

scala> "foo" assertEquals "bar"
java.lang.AssertionError: assertion failed
  at scala.Predef$.assert(Predef.scala:151)
  ... 43 elided