On Nov 18, 5:27 pm, Steven D'Aprano <ste...@remove.this.cybersource.com.au> wrote: > On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:28:11 +1300, greg wrote: > > r wrote: > >> I think the syntax was chosen because the alternatives are even worse > >> AND since assignment is SO common in programming, would you *really* > >> rather type two chars instead of one? > > > Smalltalk solved the problem by using a left-arrow character for > > assignment. But they had an unfair advantage in being able to use a > > non-standard character set on their custom-built machines. > > > We should be able to do a lot better now using Unicode. We could even > > heal the <> vs != rift by using a real not-equal symbol! > > The problem isn't with the available characters, but with *typing* them. > > It is hard to enter arbitrary Unicode characters by the keyboard, which > frankly boggles my mind. I don't know what the state of the art on Mac is > these days, but in 1984s Macs had a standard keyboard layout that let you > enter most available characters via the keyboard, using sensible > mnemonics. E.g. on a US keyboard layout, you could get ≠ by holding down > the Option key and typing =. > > For me, I had to: > > Click Start menu > Utilities > More Applications > KCharSelect. > Click through thirty-four(!) tables scanning by eye for the symbol I > wanted. > Click the ≠ character. > Click To Clipboard. > Go back to my editor window and paste. > > -- > Steven
♂ <-- Heres a free lesson... Stephen, hold down <CNTRL> and press <KEYPAD-1> twice, then release <CNTRL>. ;-) PS: But please lets not start using Unicode chars in programming, you guy's already know how much i *hate* Unicode. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
