> Coincidentally, this is basically C++'s syntax for the same task.
The syntax with the function keyword omitted was more of an insider joke, even though etymologically I did lift [] directly from C++ lambdas when I paused to think of invalid syntax to introduce a "capture list" in Lua.
But that was before I realised a twist would be required for functions.
Perhaps not fully coincidentally, the syntax addresses a problem that C++ still has with recursive lambdas.
Cheers,
V.