Hmm, I want to add and stress a few points:

During this discussion I have felt a strong polarization between two
main types of contributors:

Experienced "non-programming-type" POV-Ray users (like Gilles and Ken)
presenting the view that POV-Script as it is now is easy to learn and is
perfect for newbies and non-programmers.

On the other side:
Experienced "programmer-type" POV-Ray users that are not satsified with
the language style of the POV-Script and that claim that adding more
"programming-language-like" features would help.

I think this is too much black-and-white:

The truth is probably somewhere in-between: POV-Script is not easy for
newbies, no matter what the POV-Script veterans that have become
accustomed to it think. And redoing the script to a programming language
will not help either.

A "best-of-both-worlds" approach would be needed: Use the decades of
experience and "best-practices" that have accumulated in the field of
designing good programming languages, and combine them with a good
portion of usability for "non-programming-type" users and their
experiences with the POV-Script AND keep the result backwards
compatible.

(And only to have this buzzword in my post too: I think that you don't
even have to go looking for an OO-solution if you try to do this,
because it will come looking for you, since POV already *is* inherently
object oriented.)

Johannes.

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