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* was used for multiplication because there weren't enough bits to fit every symbol everyone would have liked into ASCII, so compromises were made, including pr
by kps 14y ago
* was used for multiplication because there weren't enough bits to fit every symbol everyone would have liked into ASCII, so compromises were made, including preference for symbols that could be 'overloaded' with multiple meanings in different contexts.
- simonh 14y agoAlso to avoid ambiguity. Since x is alphanumeric it's a valid variable name in most programming languages.