> making everyone learn its syntax and functional programming idioms probably negates the advantages of using static typing I think this is an over-exaggeratio

> making everyone learn its syntax and functional programming idioms probably negates the advantages of using static typing I think this is an over-exaggeration of the complexity involved because Dhall/Nickel/Nix are just JSON with variables and functions. If you're familiar with JSON and any general purpose programming language, say Python, you can learn the aforementioned languages in less than an hour. > Too bad. It seems like no one understands the assignment. You mean all those language designers for static configuration languages have no idea what they're doing? I think there's a better explanation. For complex configurations that warrant the kind of high level configuration languages we're talking about, declarative syntax seems to a better fit. Tracking mutation and state for large scale configuration would put the burden on everyone, beginners and experts alike.