> the key impact of simple syntax is in metaprogramming.
But does it actually have that impact? Being able to represent language constructs within the language doesn’t seem to have much to do with the textual syntax that humans use to input those constructs. Or perhaps you meant it in the sense that when introducing new constructs for humans to use (and not just generating code programmatically), it’s easier to make their syntax “blend in” with existing syntax if there isn’t much of the latter.
> and maybe it's helping code reading by human brains.
Empirically, I’m not convinced that it’s the case.
But does it actually have that impact? Being able to represent language constructs within the language doesn’t seem to have much to do with the textual syntax that humans use to input those constructs. Or perhaps you meant it in the sense that when introducing new constructs for humans to use (and not just generating code programmatically), it’s easier to make their syntax “blend in” with existing syntax if there isn’t much of the latter.
> and maybe it's helping code reading by human brains.
Empirically, I’m not convinced that it’s the case.