Obsolesence of <>

[Alex Martelli]

"Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters" <mertz at gnosis.cx> wrote in message
news:mailman.991352942.30691.python-list at python.org...
    ...
> In the end, spelling is arbitrary, of course.  But having families of
> corresponding spellings for corresponding semantics makes it easier to
> remember a language, and to teach it.

Exactly.  Teaching (and teachees' remembering:-) is my focus
on such issues.  "lesser/greater" is the WRONG suggestion to
impart syntactically when desired semantics is "not equal",
given that "a<b or a>b" and "a <> b" behave differently.  Not
that != is ideal, of course, but at least it avoids such
specific "subliminal misinformation"... "Thou shalt not kill,
but needs't not strive // officiously to keep alive", as
Clough might have put it:-).


Alex