If using meta-programming to get "basic" features rubs you the wrong way, the language might just not be for you. In general, the Julia philosophy (as well as the lisp philosophy from which Julia descends) is that things which can be done efficiently using macros instead of being built-in should be done with macros. Language features are only for things that cannot be accomplished via metaprogramming. As far as actual implementations of method-forwarding macros, there's an implementation in Lazy.jl[1], and TypedDelegation.jl[2].
[1] https://github.com/MikeInnes/Lazy.jl/blob/0de1643f37555396d6...