[breck]

> I'd like to hear especially from anyone who isn't a professional mathematician: did you feel that this post improved your understanding of the purpose and function of good notation?

No, but I did learn about new dialects and conceptualize mathematical notations better. I think for someone new to languages/notations the first set of detailed bullet points are useful. For more experienced practitioners I think it sums up to "use the right tool for the job".

What I found very interesting was the latter set of bullet points where he presents a sort of Rosetta Code (http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Rosetta_Code) of math. I am familiar with thousands of computer languages but not a mathematician and not familiar with what I'm sure are hundreds (thousands/more?) of Mathematical notations, so the few examples he lists here have me intrigued.