[SPACECADET3D]

You can also just use

    Expression.parse('x+f(x)+5')

Of course, to refer to a specific variable of the CAS in Python, you need to bind it to a Python variable. There is no way around this.

In the end most of the time of the user is not spent on syntax, but on designing algorithms. With Mathematica, you are locked into the Mathematica ecosystem. With Symbolica / sympy and other CASs that are libraries, you can use all the familiar data structures of the language you are coding in.