But in a build script you don't want to be doing either. You want SOME_VARIABLE = SOME VALUE, or at most "SOME VALUE". Grammar and syntax matter.

> Pnut shows that C is only a set of grammatical rules, and the source code in C doesn't necessary reflect the binary program, it's only a script for the C compiler.

The only thing worse than writing C is writing something that looks like C but doesn't follow the rules of C, where you have to use some other logic to understand what it actually does. Build tools that do that kind of thing have been tried and they have not turned out well.

> When I'm saying, CMake could be a C library, I'm not saying we should ditch CMake and everything it brings to the table and start writing build scripts in pure C. I'm saying we can use both C language and CMake functionality with very little, skin deep, adjustments.

"Skin deep" perhaps, but making your language uglier and weirder is still unpleasant (and CMake is unpleasant and weird enough as it is).

> The only thing that keeps us down is the perception of C as a low-level language for low-level applications.

No, the other thing is the perception of C as a crude, inexpressive language full of weird edge cases that requires dozens of lines to write even simple things, and that in turn comes from the reality of C as a crude, inexpressive language full of weird edge cases that requires dozens of lines to write even simple things.