What is a syntax-free programming language?

Answer 1

The term "syntax-free" is actually misleading. Every language has to have a syntax of some kind. What the term really means is a programming language that has a flexible, much more natural syntax rather than the strict syntax used by today's most popular programming languages. We can imagine such a language being extremely useful in speech-recognition software, where "Tea, Earl Grey, hot" would be a much more natural way for a human to interact (i.e., program) a vending machine than it would be to press buttons or use a touch-screen interface. However, in order to be flexible, the machine must also be able to cope with all the different ways a human might issue the same instruction, such as "Hot tea, Earl Grey" or even the much simpler "Earl Grey" or just "tea!". After all, the "hot" instruction can be assumed to be the default unless the user explicitly requests iced-tea, and the particular type of tea is only of importance if the consumer (the programmer) actually has a preference; if unspecified, choose the most popular type. The computer must also be able to cope with pleasantries such as "May I have cup of tea please?". Without syntax, the computer wouldn't be able to make sense of these instructions.