[Python-ideas] Is there a good reason to use * for multiplication?

[Joshua Landau]

On 13 October 2012 21:20, Mathias Panzenböck
<grosser.meister.morti at gmx.net>wrote:

> On 10/12/2012 10:27 PM, Ram Rachum wrote:
>
>> Hi everybody,
>>
>> Today a funny thought occurred to me. Ever since I've learned to program
>> when I was a child, I've
>> taken for granted that when programming, the sign used for multiplication
>> is *. But now that I think
>> about it, why? Now that we have Unicode, why not use · ?
>>
>> Do you think that we can make Python support · in addition to *?
>>
>> I can think of a couple of problems, but none of them seem like
>> deal-breakers:
>>
>>   - Backward compatibility: Python already uses *, but I don't see a
>> backward compatibility problem
>> with supporting · additionally. Let people use whichever they want, like
>> spaces and tabs.
>>   - Input methods: I personally use an IDE that could be easily set to
>> automatically convert * to ·
>> where appropriate and to allow manual input of ·. People on Linux can
>> type Alt-. .
>>
>
> I use Linux (KDE4). When I press Alt-. in kwrite I simply get . in gvim I
> get ® and here in Thunderbird I get nothing. So I don't think this is very
> practical.


Are y'all using your Alt Grill <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltGr_key>?
Mînè łeŧs mê······
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