syntax question: "<>" and "!=" operators

[Dan Bishop]

Just van Rossum <just at xs4all.nl> wrote in message news:<just-C502B6.08323716032002 at news1.xs4all.nl>...
> In article <iwtk8.6971$OP.215122 at stones>,
>  Graham Ashton <graz at mindless.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, 15 Mar 2002 18:49:09 +0000, Skip Montanaro wrote:
> > 
> > >>>>>> "Joe" == Joe Grossberg <josephgrossberg at hotmail.com> writes:
> > > 
> > >     Joe> Is there any effective difference between the two?
> > > 
> > > Nope.
> > 
> > I read somewhere (don't ask me where) that != is preferred.
> 
> But it's not generally accepted. I for one prefer <>, if only because I 
> learned Pascal before C...

Even for complex numbers, for which "less than or greater than" is meaningless?