Order of operations - parenetheses

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The discussion explores alternatives to parentheses for indicating the order of operations in mathematical expressions, questioning their effectiveness. While parentheses are widely used, some participants express curiosity about other methods, such as prefix and postfix notation, which are utilized in programming. Historical perspectives reveal that various types of brackets were once studied, but modern usage has simplified to standard parentheses. The conversation reflects a blend of nostalgia and interest in mathematical notation evolution. Overall, the topic invites consideration of whether more efficient methods exist beyond traditional parentheses.
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Is there a better/different way of indicating the order of operations in a mathematical expression - other than using parentheses?
 
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Why? What's wrong with parentheses?
 
Ah, prefix and postfix notation. I remember when I took an intro to programming class as an undergrad, I had to write a program that converted from prefix/postfix to infix, in Pascal. That was fun. :biggrin:
 
Number Nine! Nothing wrong with brackets. Just curiosity. When I studied OOO when I was kid 40 years ago, I studied different types of brackets and their order of precedence. Now, no one uses all these types of brackets, just ordinary brackets with nesting as needed.

Just curiosity to know if there is an alternate and better way.
 
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