Rebol's use of BLOCK! as currency for code distinguishes it from other languages, where the currency of code is pretty much always a function.
Ren-C actually began to allow for the use of functions as branches, which even received the value that triggered the branch (if it wished):
>> if 1 + 2 (does [print "Branch running, no arguments."])
Branch running, no arguments.
>> if 1 + 2 (func [x] [print ["Branch received:" x]])
Branch received: 3
But what about concepts like FOR-EACH? They take a quoted argument that serves as the variable to bind to a block that serves as the loop body:
>> for-each x [1 2 3] [print [x]]
1
2
3
But when you're passing a function for the code to run, you don't need to name a variable. Today, you leave it blank:
>> for-each _ [1 2 3] (func [x] [print [x]])
1
2
3 ; this doesn't actually work today, but it should, so pretend it does
We can also write this in lambda form:
>> for-each _ [1 2 3] (x => print [x])
1
2
3 ; this doesn't actually work today, but it should, so pretend it does
Better, but the blank still feels a bit ugly. Can we do better?
Concept: Use <skip>pable quoted arguments
>> for-each [1 2 3] (y => print [y])
1
2
3
>> for-each 'x [1 2 3] [print x]
1
2
3
The cost here is that you have to signal somehow that you don't want a plain evaluation of your data. e.g.:
>> x: [1 2 3]
>> for-each x (y => print [y])
1
2
3
At the cost of forcing you to put a tick mark on variables when you want to use a block for code, it paves a way to the clean use of functions...the way that people are used to from other languages. And as lambdas get more powerful and able to do implicit specializations, I think the desirability of using this form will go way up.
What do people think? Is having to put the tick mark on the variables a bad thing? It feels kind of good to me actually--because it hints at the callsite that you will not be evaluating that argument.