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From: steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny)
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Re: Reading programs left-to-right.
Message-ID: <543@scc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 23-Aug-85 20:50:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: scc.543
Posted: Fri Aug 23 20:50:22 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Aug-85 23:46:31 EDT
References: <6571@boring.UUCP> <4951@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: Don Steiny Software
Lines: 27

>
> In article <6571@boring.UUCP> jack@mcvax.UUCP (Jack Jansen) writes:
> >Why do most programming languages do assignments like
> >	  
> 
> I think that it is mostly due to the legacy of Fortran, Algol, PL/I,
> etc.  As to why these languages do it this way, I suspect that it has to
> do with mathematical notation.  
>     Barry Margolin

	In English we say:

	Fred is fat.
	Black is white.

and generally ascribe the qualities on the right to the noun on
the left.  Why would you want to do it another way in a programming
language?


-- 
scc!steiny
Don Steiny @ Don Steiny Software 
109 Torrey Pine Terrace
Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060
(408) 425-0382
	(also: hplabs!hpda!hpdsqb!steiny)