Well, I finally ran into a Python Unicode problem, sort of

[Marko Rauhamaa]

Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99 at gmail.com>:

> Mathematics uses single-character variable names so that
> multiplication can be implicit.

I don't think anybody developed mathematical notation systematically.
Rather, over the centuries, various masters came up with personal
abbreviations and shorthand, which spread among admirers and students
through emulation. The resulting two-dimensional hodgepodge needs to be
supplemented by much natural-language handwaving. Rigorous treatment
needs to use a formal language, eg: <URL:
http://us.metamath.org/mpeuni/evlslem2.html>.

Anyway, most programming has little use for mathematics. Thus, a
general-purpose programming language shouldn't bend over backwards to
placate that particular application domain.


Marko