A case against the x<>y key

[Thomas Klemm]

(05-11-2015 04:18 AM)Les Bell Wrote:  What I meant is that it's ambiguous in the sense that it requires reference to a set of rules for precedence and associativity

Sure. That's what makes the expression unambiguous. It's more convenient to write \(ax^2+bx+c\) instead of \(((a\times (x^2))+(b\times x))+c\).

Quote:which it seems not everyone knows or agrees on

If unsure about the convention you can still use parentheses to make the expression unambiguous.

Quote:if variations between programming language are any indication.

I don't see how programming languages have anything to do with a mathematical expression like \(-9^{2^3}\). How would you even use that in a program?

Quote:RPN is complete, by comparison - press \(y^x\) and it executes immediately.

There are probably good reasons to use infix notation for mathematical expressions. But whether you use prefix-, infix- or postfix notation: they are all equivalent and unambiguous.

Cheers
Thomas