What is syntactic sugar?

Syntactic sugar in programming languages refers to syntax within a programming language that is designed to make things easier to read or express. It makes the language "sweeter" for human use: things can be expressed more clearly, more concisely, or in an alternatively preferable style without adding any new features to the language itself.

In the context of Python, syntactic sugar allows programmers to express concepts in a more concise and readable way. For example, as discussed by Chris Lattner, Python programmers often prefer simpler ways to define operations that would typically require more verbose coding. He mentioned that in Python, instead of the usual methods, programmers often question why they can't use more streamlined syntax for common operations like addition or defining a function 1. This drives the desire to add syntactic sugar, facilitating easier and more intuitive code writing.