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All of this is true, but it doesn't matter. Most programmers are put off by s-expressions, too. Aesthetics matter.

• _ph_ 6y ago
  It does matter. Aesthetics do matter, but for a programming language, technical capabilites matter much more. The regular syntaxes of Lisp and TCL give it many powers not being present in languages with more "fancy" syntaxes.
  • the_hoser 6y ago
    I'd like to live in a world where that is true, but we just don't. Languages only need to be powerful enough to solve the problems actually being solved by 9 to 5 programmers. Aesthetics and ergonomics matter much more.
  • bch 6y ago
    _ph_, on this case I think it’s fair to say the aesthetic and ergonomics are the technical capability, to degrees. For example, building a custom looping control does benefit aesthetics and ergonomics. It could be viewed as 2 sides of the same coin.