This is one of the reasons why I'm curious about Alan Kay's STEPS project, which attempted to build an entire desktop environment in just 20,000 lines of code v

This is one of the reasons why I'm curious about Alan Kay's STEPS project, which attempted to build an entire desktop environment in just 20,000 lines of code via the use of bespoke domain-specific languages (https://tinlizzie.org/VPRIPapers/tr2012001_steps.pdf https://tinlizzie.org/VPRIPapers/tr2012001_steps.pdf). Building feature-rich software applications using conventional technologies is very labor-intensive, but one of the things I'm curious about is whether the combination of DSLs to define subsystems and the promotion of component-based software (a la Apple's OpenDoc strategy from the mid-1990s before Steve Jobs' return; see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJdjk2rq4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJdjk2rq4E for a very 1990s video) could reduce the cost of writing software that meets modern expectations regarding functionality.