Hi Mike, > Actually most of the symbols in the language don't have names. For example > "+" doesn't have a name.
Fair point. But it is at least possible to track down or piece together a plain English description of the "+" operator, e.g., at https://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-functions-31/#func-numeric-add. Similarly, the dollar sign that prefixes a variable name is explained in plain English at https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-31/#id-variables. I'm okay with calling ":=" "colon-equals" or even not giving it a name. But unlike the other unnamed symbols, ":=" has no plain English definition, only an indirect, tertiary definition by way of the EBNF notation for clauses that use it. I'm not saying that the spec is obligated to provide a name or plain English description for all symbols, but it does strike me that an agreed-upon description for this one - prominent in the L of XQuery's signature expression - would be useful to provide to people learning the language. Thanks, Joe _______________________________________________ [email protected] http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk
