Re: ~= vs. !=

[Erik Hougaard <erik@...>]

Roberto Ierusalimschy wrote:

> > Why is the ~= operator the != operator in Lua in the first place? Perhaps 
> > someone could share this bit of information?
> >    
>
> First, `~=' is not the `!=' operator in Lua. `~=' is the "not equal"
> operator ;)
>
> Back in 1993 (when we started Lua) there was no Java, no Python (at
> least to a general audience), no Php, Perl was known only to the
> initiated. At that time, C-like syntax was not dominant as it is now.
>
> Even today a lot of languages do not use `!=': Ada, Haskell, Eiffel, and
> Fortran90 use `/='; Icon, Dylan, Smalltalk (and Lua) use `~='; several
> Pascal-based languages use `<>'; Oberon, Modula2, and Modula3 use `#'.
>
>  
Long ago when I started uCore the same discussion (!= vs ~=) lived but 
with a twist.... cause the "~" is a dead key on a danish keyboard (and 
lot of other European keyboard layouts) so is was a pain in the *** to 
use it compared to the alternatives. But we learned to live with it and 
when my staff ask "WHY???"  - I just say "It's a funky brazillian thing 
- just think of it as a exotic twist to a boring life in the cold north! 
:-))"

/Erik