andrel linnenbank wrote in message <3D1767A2.B71AB835@amc.uva.nl>...
>
>> > As a further note, precedence is always a difficult thing. There are
>> > even variations between countries. In Holland the precedence rules are
>> > that the order for binary operators is: ^ * / + - and none has the same
>> > precedence. So 2*4/2 is 4 not 1 When something unexpected happens I
>> > always check precedence and use superfluous parenthesis, just to be
sure
>>
>> How could that equal 1? I don't see any precedence rule that could
produce
>> that result...it either comes out to 8/2 or 2*2. Or +-: 2 + 3 - 5 = 0
>> whether you do the addition or subtraction first.
>Whoops sorry, a more correct expample would be
>2*2/2*2
>which is 1 in Holland. it parses as (2*2)/(2*2) and 4 in some other
>countries where they parse it as ((2*2)/2)*2


This is what I like about postfix notation: 2 2 * 2 / 2 * is unambiguously
4.

--
Mark

The Universe is expanding.
The budget for its exploration is shrinking.

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