And in fact Brad Cox has stated that it was this at the time crucial optimization that made them go for a full pre-processor instead of just a couple of macros.

And in fact Brad Cox has stated that it was this at the time crucial optimization that made them go for a full pre-processor instead of just a couple of macros. Once they had the need for the pre-processor, they decided they might as well make some usable, Smalltalk-derived syntax.