how to get the ordinal number in list

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 10:11 PM, Rustom Mody <rustompmody at gmail.com> wrote:
> So evidently using notations in the ways they are conventionally used
> is a good thing.
>
> But then when it comes to Steven supporting the violation 500 years* of
> math conventional usage of '=':

Yep. It's not a violation; it's a modification. Since algebra has no
concept of chronology and programming does, some notation must be
found which captures this concept. Try explaining complex numbers to
someone who has only ever used real numbers, and explain why you
violate however-many centuries of conventional usage wherein letters
are used for variables, but now you pick one of them and make it a
constant. It's an abomination! This "complex" stuff is so utterly
wrong compared to "real mathematics", and how dare you even support
using symbols the same way in both of them!

The double horizontal line is associated with equality. Assignment
states that the LHS after this point is equal to the RHS before this
point, which is a chronologically modified form of enforced equality.
It makes good sense to use the double horizontal line for equality.

ChrisA