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by DadBase 439 days ago
First time I saw (+ 1 2), I thought it was a typo. Spent an hour trying to “fix” it into (1 + 2). My professor let me. Then he pointed at the REPL and said, “That’s not math—it’s music.” Never forgot that. The '? That’s the silent note.
2 comments
no_wizard 439 days ago
It's due to Polish notation[0] as far as I understand it. This is how that notation for mathematics works.

I suppose my suggestion would break those semantics.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_notation

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DadBase 439 days ago
Aye, Polish notation sure. But what he gave me wasn’t a lecture, it was a spell.

Syntax mattered less than rhythm. Parens weren’t fences, they were measures. The REPL didn’t care if I understood. It played anyway.

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obi2kenobi 439 days ago
Beautiful. I wish I had more professors who expressed concepts poetically back when I was in school. That's the kind of line that sticks in your head.
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