3 8#1. looks like algebra to me. similar to: 3x^2+8x+1 instead of something, in algo-like languages, such as: plus((mult(3,square(x))),plus(mult(3,x),1)))

3 8#1. looks like algebra to me. similar to: 3x^2+8x+1 instead of something, in algo-like languages, such as: plus((mult(3,square(x))),plus(mult(3,x),1))) Even Java lets you write 3xx+8*x+1, as a concession the value of algebraic notations. I think that three issues at play are: 0. Falling into an intellectual comfort zone. My path has included BASIC, FORTRAN, PASCAL, C, C++, Perl, k/q. At each step I had to learn a new notation that seemed difficult at the time because of the intellectual comfort with my earlier experiences. k was ultimately a reversion to basic algebraic notation. I also learned regex notation along the way and still use it to this day :). 1. Having to learn a new (and slightly larger) operator vocabulary to understand vector languages like apl/j/k/q. I find the APL vocabulary to be too large for my taste, for example. 2. The possibly of a large expression that carry lots of semantic content. Large expressions in algebra/mathematics are often refactored into named expressions or functions, similar to programming language source code. In addition, verbose languages have lower semantic density and make it easier to comprehend what can fit on one line of source code.