4 ms·
Why is math restricted to single-character identifiers in the first place? energy = mass · lightspeed² ↑ As you would do in programming.
by anordal 6y ago
Why is math restricted to single-character identifiers in the first place?
energy = mass · lightspeed²
↑ As you would do in programming.
- TheGallopedHigh 6y agoProofs can be very long, writing out full pages with single letters let alone full words would be difficult to parse
- alexvoda 6y agoSource code for software is much, much, much longer and structured in directories and version controlled and automatically syntax checked and automatically tested and even edited simultaneously remotely across the globe. And in case of some languages we can even use the full Unicode for variable names (Julia). The only restriction is we have mandatory separators and adjacency does not automatically mean multiplication. See for example VS Code Live Share for the last one if you are not aware of it.
- heinrichhartman 6y agoThat's perfectly fine, and sometimes done in expository writing. https://www.amazon.com/Algebraic-Geometry-Projective-Varieties-Mathematics/dp/3540586571 https://www.amazon.com/Algebraic-Geometry-Projective-Varieti... This get's very tedious to write if you use this over and over in proofs.
- runald 6y agoIf you had to tediously write it over and over in proofs, why can't just you give it a name or an abstraction? ↑ As you would do in programming.
- alexvoda 6y agoThe reason I found is because in math adjacency is interpreted as multiplication. There is no mandatory separator character. See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25207527 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25207527