thoughts-computer-succinctnessVsExpressivity

"Power" is a slippery word -- i think it may be a conceptual metaphor without a concrete source. Programming frameworks are sort of like programming languages. Paul Graham has made a case that in the domain of programming language design, "power" should correspond to "succinctness". Succinctness, however, is inversely related to expressivity: by having implicit assumptions, you remove the need to communicate these assumptions explicitly. So, if Graham is right, then expressivity is inversely related to power. Phrasing it in these terms allows you to think of constrained (reduduced) expressivity as a design choice that might be good in some circumstances.