RE: URI Template: query param name different than variable name

I said:
>> '=' is currently used to introduce a default value:
>> {[op]var[=default]}. However, you don't need to use an operator and a
>> default together. For instance, in the current syntax "{?startPage=1}"
>> can be written as "?startPage={startPage=1} -- there is always a value
>> (from the variable or the default) so the operator-related parts will
>> always be present so they can be 'literals' outside the { } brackets.

Roy replied:
> I think that introducing a recursive syntax for templates
> would be dangerous.  Tempting, but a denial-of-service attack
> just waiting to happen.

I am not suggesting a recursive syntax.
In the example template
 "?startPage={startPage=1}"
the first 11 characters are literal characters to be copied into the URI being constructed -- they are not part of a {...} placeholder that a template processor replaces.