&gt; But I do base a lot of language learning on the ease of use of its syntax for newcomers.<p>From what I&#x27;ve observed of learners, people <i>without</i> lots of programming background seem to have no more problem with parens in lisps (in the broad sense -- mostly, I&#x27;ve seen this with Scheme and Racket) than with syntax features of various Algol-family (C, etc.) languages.<p>People with extensive experience in programming that is mostly restricted to Algol-family languages seem to be the people who are most put-off by lisps and their parens.<p>Which is to say, there are different kinds of newcomers.