It's the symmetry of the '=' symbol which creates the difficulty. Replace it by an arrow in the direction of the assignment and it doesn't look strange anymore.

It's the symmetry of the '=' symbol which creates the difficulty. Replace it by an arrow in the direction of the assignment and it doesn't look strange anymore. File("file.txt").byLineCopy.array.sort -> sortedLines; Especially if you add the |> operator (from Erlang I believe) to 'pipe' the data. File("file.txt") |> readlines |> sort -> sortedLines;