On Wednesday, 3 July 2013 at 12:45:53 UTC, TommiT wrote:
I don't see why we couldn't add the actual unicode ∙ and ×
characters to the language, make them operators and give them
the fixed meaning of dot product and cross product respectively.
Wouldn't + be the correct operator to use for matrix addition.
What happens when matrices are added is quite different from
when real values are added, but the meaning of + is still
addition for the both of them.
That's also a possibility, I suppose, but the real thrust is it
would allow you to have very clear (as in, visually offset by
some sort of brace, in this example) operators that handle
whatever weird transform you want for any convoluted data
structure you care to define one for.
That they can be entered with a standard 104-key keyboard without
groping about for however people prefer to enter unicode
characters is just icing.
-Wyatt
