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Would have been great if this version fixed the syntax. Square brackets for function arguments makes no sense, neither mathematically, nor programming language

Would have been great if this version fixed the syntax. Square brackets for function arguments makes no sense, neither mathematically, nor programming language wise :) Same for Sin requiring a capital letter, and curly braces instead of square brackets for matrices

verandaguy 10y ago
Builtin functions in at least most previous versions of Mathematica have required capitalized names; I think it's got to do with disambiguation vs user-defined functions (e.g. builtin `Sin` is the mathematical sine funciton, while the user-defined `sin` prints the seven deadly sins for whatever reason -- you still retain access to both this way). As for square brackets for parameters, it's unconventional, for sure, but not ambiguous because list literals use curly braces anyway.
nine_k 10y ago
Won't it be a huge breaking change? Consistency and backwards-compatibility are much more important for most existing users, whatever their aestetic preferences may be.
dzdt 10y ago
Those are such trivial details! These are the things that matter in day one of using the language, and make no difference for anyone who has made the slightest effort to get familiar with the language. Breaking compatibility for such a silly style reason would be the height of stupidity!
sbmassey 10y ago
The syntax is consistent and works fine, and I'm not sure that changing the syntax so it looks like some other programming language is a good use of anyones time and energy
bordercases 10y ago
Square brackets – one keypress. Curly brackets – two keypresses, shift and the other bracket key. Result: reserved key for brackets, instead of mixing brackets and numbers while making the only kind of bracket an entire key more to get to. Evaluation: it's clean and efficient.
- pjmlp 10y ago
  On most European keyboards brackets are both two keypresses.
sciyoshi 10y ago
I actually really like the consistency of Mathematica's syntax - parentheses are reserved for grouping expressions. You can also create matrices using the cell inputs in notebooks, which uses standard mathematical notation.
fsloth 10y ago
There are really good books out there for learning Mathematica. A foreign - but coherent - syntax should not be a dealbreaker for any professional or craftsman.

verandaguy 10y ago

Builtin functions in at least most previous versions of Mathematica have required capitalized names; I think it's got to do with disambiguation vs user-defined functions (e.g. builtin `Sin` is the mathematical sine funciton, while the user-defined `sin` prints the seven deadly sins for whatever reason -- you still retain access to both this way). As for square brackets for parameters, it's unconventional, for sure, but not ambiguous because list literals use curly braces anyway.

nine_k 10y ago

Won't it be a huge breaking change? Consistency and backwards-compatibility are much more important for most existing users, whatever their aestetic preferences may be.

dzdt 10y ago

Those are such trivial details! These are the things that matter in day one of using the language, and make no difference for anyone who has made the slightest effort to get familiar with the language. Breaking compatibility for such a silly style reason would be the height of stupidity!

sbmassey 10y ago

The syntax is consistent and works fine, and I'm not sure that changing the syntax so it looks like some other programming language is a good use of anyones time and energy

bordercases 10y ago

Square brackets – one keypress. Curly brackets – two keypresses, shift and the other bracket key. Result: reserved key for brackets, instead of mixing brackets and numbers while making the only kind of bracket an entire key more to get to. Evaluation: it's clean and efficient.

pjmlp 10y ago
On most European keyboards brackets are both two keypresses.

sciyoshi 10y ago

I actually really like the consistency of Mathematica's syntax - parentheses are reserved for grouping expressions. You can also create matrices using the cell inputs in notebooks, which uses standard mathematical notation.

fsloth 10y ago

There are really good books out there for learning Mathematica. A foreign - but coherent - syntax should not be a dealbreaker for any professional or craftsman.