I'm not a particularly hardcore latex user, but in my observation it's the opposite: Because it's a "real" programming language, not just a macro system, it scales much better to complex tasks. Even simple things generally take fewer characters than latex.
E.g., during the preview I built a very basic CAS with it, for simplifying and differentiating simple math expressions, in the span of an afternoon.
E.g., during the preview I built a very basic CAS with it, for simplifying and differentiating simple math expressions, in the span of an afternoon.