Reading information rates are pretty similar across major written languages. (1.42 ± 0.13 texts/min). Ideographs take longer to recognize but contain more information.
Japanese readers do indeed take in information slightly more slowly than average, but not as slowly as Finnish readers -- a language with 26 latin-based characters.
> Ideographs take longer to recognize but contain more information.
I think this is a huge part of what makes it hard for people. You have to read denser code slower. APL code can easily have 1/10th of the characters when compared to code in popular languages. If you read at the same speed then you're reading... ten times as fast. That's a bit much to ask. You could read a five times slower and you're still covering information at twice the speed.
Wonder if is there a sweet spot, sort of the language equivalent to what ternary is to number systems, the integer base with best theoretical radix economy (number length vs. Maximum different states coded)
I think this is a huge part of what makes it hard for people. You have to read denser code slower. APL code can easily have 1/10th of the characters when compared to code in popular languages. If you read at the same speed then you're reading... ten times as fast. That's a bit much to ask. You could read a five times slower and you're still covering information at twice the speed.