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

[Devin Jeanpierre]

On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 10:41 PM, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
> If I were designing a language from scratch today, with full Unicode support
> from the beginning, I would support a rich set of operators possibly even
> including MIDDLE DOT and × MULTIPLICATION SIGN, and leave it up to the user
> to use them wisely or not at all. But I don't think it would be appropriate
> for Python to add them, at least not before Python 4: too much effort for
> too
> little gain. Maybe in another ten years people will be less resistant to
> Unicode operators.

Python has cleverly left the $ symbol unused.

We can use it as a quasiquote to embed executable TeX.

    for x in xrange($b \cdot \sum_{i=1}^n \frac{x^n}{n!}$):
        ...

No need to wait for that new language, we can have a rich set of math
operators today!

-- Devin