I disagree that it has zero roots. It's not whitespace sensitive, so it does throw out a ton of YAML's distinctive syntax.
What you're left with is YAML's core expressiveness, which is that within a text file you can express the basic structures of maps, sequences, some atoms and user-typed [1] nodes.
YAML also has some limited facilities for avoiding repetition, such as aliases and anchors[2]. And a YAML parser can use tags to simulate functions[3].
Dhall is preserving all those capabilities, and then adds real functions and type declarations to further expand the ability to avoid repetition and to avoid mistakes. It's also using a proper type system rather than basically returning a parse tree back.
And whereas these advanced features in YAML are rarely useful because the parser has to go out of its way to support them, it seems like Dhall may be able to make them work properly. So I'd say seeing another project attempt something and then trying to do it right is definitely being influenced by it.
What you're left with is YAML's core expressiveness, which is that within a text file you can express the basic structures of maps, sequences, some atoms and user-typed [1] nodes.
YAML also has some limited facilities for avoiding repetition, such as aliases and anchors[2]. And a YAML parser can use tags to simulate functions[3].
Dhall is preserving all those capabilities, and then adds real functions and type declarations to further expand the ability to avoid repetition and to avoid mistakes. It's also using a proper type system rather than basically returning a parse tree back.
And whereas these advanced features in YAML are rarely useful because the parser has to go out of its way to support them, it seems like Dhall may be able to make them work properly. So I'd say seeing another project attempt something and then trying to do it right is definitely being influenced by it.
[1]: https://yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html#id2761292 [2]: https://yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html#id2786196 [3]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGui...