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

[Mathias Panzenböck]

On 10/13/2012 10:45 PM, Joshua Landau wrote:
> On 13 October 2012 21:20, Mathias Panzenböck <grosser.meister.morti at gmx.net
> <mailto: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······

With Alt Gr I always get …

Ah, Alt Gr-, produces · (German keyboard here, of course.)