Little or No Syntax

Common Lisp has little or no syntax

I find it easier to think of CL as a sexp-based assembly language

CL uses “)” instead of “end <...>”

Lots of syntax

Algol, Pascal, etc.

“end if”, “end loop”, etc.

Syntax – pros

Allows checking code for one class of error

easy, well-understood

Syntax – cons

noise

syntactic sugar is noise

noise hurts maintenance / understandability

Syntactic sugar sugar needed by syntax checker but not needed after syntax checking

To maintain / upgrade, one must understand the design and the code and implication of changes ; syntax check is mostly unnecessary in the larger scheme (of understanding)

Syntax for Writing

use lots of syntax to ensure well-formedness

Syntax for Reading

don’t need syntax checking after code has been compiled and checked

Editor

switch between writing and reading (syntax / no syntax)

projectional editor?

switch views quickly?