Brython - Python in the browser

[Dan Sommers]

On Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:11:00 +1100, Chris Angelico wrote:

> "This is a string" / 3 ==> ["This ", "is a ", "strin", "g"]
> and "This is a string" // 3 ==> ["This ", "is a ", "strin"]
> then "This is a string" % 3 ==> ["g"] or possibly "g"
> 
> which is incompatible with current usage. But that's a meaning that
> makes reasonable sense as "modulo".

So why are we all so comfortable with using "*" as the operator for 
multiplication?  I'm sure that a new programming language that dared to 
use U+00D7 or U+2715 for multiplication would be instantly rejected on 
the grounds that it was confusing and incompatible with current practice.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterisk) doesn't even list 
multiplication as a mathematical use of the asterisk.

Until recently, the number of characters available to a programming 
language was limited (APL notwithstanding).

Practicality beat (paste tense) purity.

Dan