Of course it won't compile with a C compiler. It wasn't meant to. I just invented a C-like syntax for pattern matching. I had to, so it could be translated to the machine version, which will be compiled. (As you may have guessed such a compiler doesn't exist —yet.)

On the benefits of skinnable syntax: look at C++, Java, and Javascript. They have two things in common: their popularity, and their syntax. Coincidence? I think not. By stealing the syntax of C, they build on it's original success.

I painfully know that C syntax isn't suited to functional code with gazillions of nested function calls. However, this is a known syntax. It makes learning far easier (or at least looks that way, so people are actually willing to try).