(Per AV's suggestion I started a new thread.) Continuing: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/metamath/XPYuatviNV0/ziS-CsG-DQAJ
On Saturday, January 4, 2020 at 10:19:17 AM UTC-5, David A. Wheeler wrote: > > Norman Megill: > >Our current square and square root conventions are "sq" and "sqr" resp. > >I'm almost certain I've seen "sqr" used for square root in at least one > >computer language although I can't recall which one right now. I recall it now: sqr for square root is used in BASIC and essentially all its derivatives (Visual BASIC, BASIC-Plus, etc.). I think all of the standard arithmetic/trig functions (sqr, sin, cos, tan, atn,...) used 3 letters, so at least there was that small point of consistency that made them slightly easier to remember. So historically I'm pretty sure I subconsciously chose that convention when adding the first square root theorems. I don't recall ever seeing sqr used for square, probably because most languages use "^" or similar for powers. [I was forced to use BASIC-Plus on a DEC VAX for several years because any other language at that time would have required the purchase of an exorbitantly expensive compiler that couldn't be justified. Thankfully in the early 90s gcc became available for free. At least BASIC-Plus had a "structured" extended language with "if...end" blocks etc, and no one used line numbers any more, so it wasn't terrible to program in. It did require the first line of code to begin with a line number - usually people used 1 or 10 - and there were arguments among developers about why the lone line number needed to be retained.] Norm > I don't > >see > >the problem with omitting the "t" since any confusion is instantly > >resolved > >by hovering over the label, if the content of the proof step doesn't > >make > >it obvious. If people are truly confused by this, I suppose we can add > >the > >"t", but until now no one has complained about it. > > I am fine with sq as square, but square root is almost universally notated > as sqrt. > > Here is a list of just some of the languages that use sqrt for square > root: > Fortran > C > Python > Excel > Java > C# > JavaScript > Common Lisp > Scheme > Mathematica > Octave / Matlab > > In short, the standard abbreviation for square root is sqrt. We would make > others' lives simpler by using the same abbreviation everyone else does. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Metamath" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/metamath/9af7634d-ff91-45e9-8022-6c229bb9fa78%40googlegroups.com.
