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I find it hard to believe that a statistically normal programmer mixes up < and >. That sounds more like dyslexia.
by afandian 13y ago
I find it hard to believe that a statistically normal programmer mixes up < and >. That sounds more like dyslexia.
- ronaldx 13y agoI was surprised to see that as an example as well, but then I thought back to starting out as a programmer. I'm sure I spent many hours fixing bugs caused by getting < and > wrong.
- karka91 13y agoI find it hard to believe that someone actually mixes these unless they completely skipped all math classes in school.
- taejo 13y agoI remember several kids in my class having great difficulty with < and > when they were first introduced. I can well imagine many of them just decided it was impossible and gave up.
- PeterisP 13y agoWas it possible to give up? In my place, they wouldn't be let on to the next grade if they'd fail basic math - i.e., they'd spend the summer repeating it + an extra year in the same grade if that wasn't enough; so it would have to be a real exception to see a 10 year old who can't somehow manage that. Anyways, the classic mnemonic for that was simple - for < and > the wide part contains more 'thingies' than the narrow part. They're actually taught before numbers or together with numbers, like [pic of four strawberries] > [pic of three strawberries].
- anonymous 13y agoAh, yes the "I can't fit it to my mental model, therefore it is impossible" argument. When little, my brother used to mix up the words "more" and "less" while speaking. I don't doubt someone could mix up > and <.
- inthewind 13y agoYeah people frequently mix up left and right also. And my brother always wrote his numbers backwards or rather left to right (units on the left).
- blablabla123 13y agoI used to mix it up in elementary school because the school teacher explained that "<" is "less" and ">" is "more". Even worse, she suggested to memorize it like this: |<leiner = kleiner (german, meaning less) At some point I realized it's possible to memorize it visually, since then I never mixed it up again
- Chris2048 13y agoIt's easy. They're alligator mouths, that always go for the larger number (greedy alligators!)...
- vickytnz 13y agoI was taught the crocodile thing, but had real issues with it: I can think it through but it's not fast. I'm pretty much ambidexterous (i.e. write with left and catch a ball with my right) so while I can do quite a lot of things with both hands I also have problems with left and right!
- yogo 13y agoThis is the first time I'm hearing about this too so I think there is more to it. I don't even see why a mnemonic is required since the shape of both '<' and '>' clearly demonstrate the relationship that the operator is testing.
- inthewind 13y agoAlso a lot of people have trouble with the back and forward slashes. When teaching html, people got the closing slash mixed up, it was all over the place.
- vickytnz 13y agoI probably should have chosen a better mnemonic to start from! I'd point out that if you see greater and less than more like arrows it's utterly confusing. I'm not denying I'm probably weird in that respect, it's just something I have to use tricks to remember….
- thedudemabry 13y agoI've known a few otherwise non-dyslexic programmers that have had this issue. One guy kept a sticky note on his monitor with "> Greater, < Less" written on it.
- afandian 13y agoI find that really fascinating. Was it just those things? What about which paren (or brace) opens and which one closes? (I'm not being facetious!)