> It's considered OK because the extra syntax carries semantic weight, and the s... | Hacker News

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3b9cd7355317f55 on Oct 27, 2018 | parent | context | favorite | on: Not Lisp again (2009)

> It's considered OK because the extra syntax carries semantic weight, and the semicolons disambiguate intent for the interpreter (because while semicolons are optional in javascript, leaving them out can lead to errors.)

Which is a very roundabout way of saying that JavaScript has a very complicated grammar. Is it necessary? No, it isn't. People use and love languages with much simpler grammars, such as FORTH (reverse Polish notation), APL (monadic and dyadic algebraic notation), and Lisp (fully parenthesized Polish notation).

krapp on Oct 27, 2018 [–]

>Which is a very roundabout way of saying that JavaScript has a very complicated grammar.

If you think Javascript's grammar is "very complicated" then C++ will probably give you a heart attack.

You're overstating what amounts to an aesthetic argument, which is fine, but not really compelling.

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