It is difficult to find the right balance between a simple language that requires "toil" and a less toilsome language that is also more complex and requires more effort to learn and master. I'm very open to new ideas of how to make the Pikchr language less toilsome without a corresponding increase in complexity. Expect improvements to occur. Your suggestions are welcomed
I envision Pikchr operating in the same nitch as Markdown. (Indeed, Pikchr was originally designed to augment Markdown-based documentation.) An artificial language like PIC/Pikchr is always going to have a steeper learning curve than a GUI diagram drawing tool, just as Markdown documents are always going to be a barrier to entry for pointy-clicky people who prefer MS-Word or Google-Docs. And yet, Markdown persists and even flourishes. Why is that? If point-and-click really is so much better, why are there so many Markdown technical documents out there?
A key advantage of Markdown, which helps it thrive in a point-and-click world, is that it is very simple to learn and requires no proprietary tools. Pikchr is not as simple, though it is simpler (I think) than any other artificial language for graphics that I have encountered, and I've tried to make the Pikchr code as accessible and as easy to integrate as I know how. I'm on a mission to make Pikchr simpler still. Your feedback on how to do that is appreciated.