I have tried an editor that worked on ASTs only, and it was super unergonomic, like select a node type, then fill in values, but writing the code was way faster than the interface. Even writing LISP which I find hard is easier than using that AST editor. like (+ 1 2) is faster than right click add node add op add literal add literal

Can provide useful "highlights" for dealing with different language versions / language compatibility/inter-operability issues. aka 1980's language vs. 2020 take.