Succinctness is Power

paulgraham.com

Technology

12 min read → 70 sec

An argument that programming language power is largely the ability to make programs smaller, with succinctness improving speed, abstraction, and problem solving more than line-by-line readability does.

A programming language's power is mostly how succinct it lets you make programs

High-level languages exist to express in 10 lines what machine language needs 1000 for

Program size is better measured by syntax-tree elements than by lines or characters

The number of syntax-tree elements tracks the parts a programmer must hold in mind

More succinct languages let programmers build software faster because output per day stays roughly similar

A language that feels restrictive is usually forcing a longer route, which means insufficient succinctness

Succinctness is a useful design test because shorter programs usually signal a better abstraction

Designing languages disproves the claim that all languages are equivalent, because each feature changes what programs cost

Small predefined benchmark problems underestimate powerful languages because they miss discovery and problem finding

The real test of a language is how well it helps you discover and solve new problems

Languages known for succinctness, like Forth, Joy, and Icon, are good places to find abstractions

Readability should be judged at the whole-program level, not by how easy one line looks

Per-line readability can be a marketing advantage while still increasing total reading effort

Mathematical notation is hard because the ideas are hard. Prose would only make them longer

Individual programs can be too dense, but that does not show a language itself is too succinct

Field reports are less precise than studies, but often more accurate about language power