Macro context vs. output context

Main.hx

//Original source code:

class Main {
  #if !macro
  static function main() {
    test();
  }
  #end  
  macro static function test() {
    return makeHelloWorld();
  }
  #if macro
  static function makeHelloWorld() {
    return macro trace('hello world');
  }
  #end
}

//As seen from macro context

class Main {
  macro static function test() {
    return makeHelloWorld();
  }
  static function makeHelloWorld() {
    return macro trace('hello world');
  }
}

//As seen in the output context

class Main {
  static function main() {
    test();
  }
  macro static function test();
}

//After macro evaluation

class Main {
  static function main() {
    trace('hello world');//this is what was returned by Main.test() called in macro context
  }
}

More info here: http://haxe.org/manual/macro-compilation-role.png