Well no but actually no. Mathematica is homoiconic, and it has tons of special syntax and sugar that all boils down to lists when you quote. Elixir also does this with a ruby-like syntax on top. Those are just the 2 I know of. Making the compiler available through a programmer-accessible API from within the program itself is the big idea, it has nothing to do with what the text grammar happens to be.
Well no but actually no. Mathematica is homoiconic, and it has tons of special syntax and sugar that all boils down to lists when you quote. Elixir also does this with a ruby-like syntax on top. Those are just the 2 I know of. Making the compiler available through a programmer-accessible API from within the program itself is the big idea, it has nothing to do with what the text grammar happens to be.