[bloaf]

So tcl handles it somewhat more elegantly, I think. It also has a set function, but does not require any special quoting because it uses the $ prefix to denote "get the value of this symbol":

    set a 5
    puts $a  #prints 5

and of course because it is modeled as a function (albeit an impure one) you can pass arguments to it as normal:

    set a b
    set $a 5  #equivalent to set b 5
    puts $b   #prints 5

of course, everything in tcl is a string, so this works too lol

    set a 5
    set $a b
    puts $5  #prints b

[middayc]

I’ve personally always thought that REBOL’s use of set-words and similar constructs was a strength. It makes sense conceptually, is visually distinguishable, and maintains a strong sense of internal consistency.

REBOL (and by extension, Rye) was never designed around the idea that everything must be a function. It just turns out that this approach fits naturally within the core principles and rules of the language.

All “active” words happen to be functions, because nothing else is needed. The behavior of different word types (and, more broadly, value types) is determined by the evaluator. In that sense, you could say that Rye does have syntax, expressed through its distinct word types.