x = x + 1 "Most programmers will agree that this expression makes perfect sense, but if you show it to a math guy, be ready to hear "no, it isn't". And once yo

x = x + 1 "Most programmers will agree that this expression makes perfect sense, but if you show it to a math guy, be ready to hear "no, it isn't". And once you see what makes him think that way, you will also see why we assign values with : in k." This is pretty dumb. Show "x : x + 1" or even "x : y + 1" to a math person and they will not know what you mean either. There is a non-universal convention in math of using a "defining semicolon" with equals signs, so you could say "x := y + 1" and math people would probably interpret it the same way you do, though they might not like "x := x + 1". But all this is irrelevant anyway: Progamming is not math. Other parts of the syntax of k don't look very mathy either. Preferring ":" over "=" or something else for assignment is a choice on the part of the language designers, but it has nothing to do with not confusing poor mathematicians.