Re: Macros and little languages

[Howard Stearns <address@hidden>]

Is it more important for a language to promote code that is readable by 
anyone versed in the particular programming language, regardless of  the 
application domain, or is is it better to for a language to make it easy 
to churn out new code that works for particular applications?

Some say code is read (maintained) more than it is written, and by more 
people, so that in the long run, a uniform programming-language-domain 
style is most important.  

Others say they are paid to write code, but that writing or fixing, it's 
easier when working in the problem domain.

Some worry that sufficiently powerful program-domain code, or 
conversely, that sufficiently powerful application-domain code, is too 
hard for mere mortals to work with for writing or for reading.

Some claim that development tools can reduce the exposure to code to 
such a small amount that the issue becomes moot.

How do the answers depend on whether we're talking about a closed group 
of programmers employed for a single task, vs. an open-source project, 
vs. distributed group-accreted semantics built on the Web in the next 
generation?  Is there any way to defiine the issue specifically enough 
to actually say something more useful than personal preference?