The language starts explaining itself

Two files now sit beside the engine that between them describe the whole language: a prose specification of about two and a half kilobytes, and a JSON index with a description of every runtime function.

The specification opens the way a specification should:

Write only .phlo files; transpiler generates PHP to /php and assets to /www. No semicolons anywhere.

Then the elements in one line, route prop method function view style script static const, the rule that decides half of daily use, prop runs once and caches; function becomes global PHP, and the routing grammar as six lines covering required, optional, length-constrained, enumerated and slurping segments.

Being able to state a language that briefly is itself information. It means the grammar is small, and it means a newcomer can hold all of it at once instead of learning it in fragments.

The JSON index does the other half. Each runtime function gets a written description, so tooling can explain a call without parsing the implementation. The browser IDE reads both, which is what lets it offer help about the file you have open rather than generic advice.

There is a wider bet in these two files. A language that can be stated in a page can be taught to anything that reads, which increasingly includes tools rather than only people. Making the platform describable and making it teachable look like the same work.