Hannes (Jun 27 2024 at 05:00): Hannes (Jun 27 2024 at 05:00):I think suggestions for improving Roc's syntax are great, but I just wanted to add an alternative idea which is that Roc's syntax is great already!
About 2 years ago I started working on my own functional language, but soon after found that Roc was already very close to what I had designed, except for the syntax which was very different. I preferred a syntax with curlies {} and Algol style function calls, very similar to Gleam, and I couldn't stand Roc's significant indentation, but I stuck with Roc because it seemed so great in many other ways.
I recently tried Gleam for the first time, and while I think it's an amazing language, I found the syntax made code harder to read than the equivalent Roc code.
In an episode of Software Unscripted, Richard said that when people have suggestions for Roc, often if you come back to them later they have a different perspective and don't mind that their suggestion wasn't implemented. Although I never suggested changing Roc's syntax, I'm one of those people :sweat_smile:
Brendan Hansknecht (Jun 27 2024 at 05:25):Though rocs syntax has changed since I joined a few years ago, I think the core has remained unchanged. I think the only syntax that felt stunning when reading new code with it was !. It just hugely cut down on an entire class of super common noise.
Though I'm sure the syntax will evolve more, I think the core is here to stay and clearly sets the tone for the language as a whole.
Hannes (Jun 27 2024 at 05:28):Good good, I didn't expect any drastic changes to Roc's syntax, mainly wanted to encourage the Roc development team and say thank you for changing my mind and building such a great language :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
Shaiden Spreitzer (Jun 27 2024 at 16:35):It shouldn't diverge too much from ELM. Elm is a fantastic language (my favorite) and its style, similar to Haskell and devoid of curly C-style '}' noise, is refreshing and a big reason for Roc as well. :sunglasses:
Last updated: Jun 16 2026 at 16:19 UTC