Quote:
Originally Posted by melodyh40
You're both kind of right. They are all "brackets" (and function as such), but ShyAnne's right - ( ) are called parentheses, [ ] are just called brackets, and { } are called braces.
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Well, yes, parentheses are an alternative name for brackets but those other two terms must be American as no-one in the UK ever refers to [ ] as merely 'brackets' and I've never heard 'braces' used to describe punctuation either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melodyh40
In math, we normally nest out in this order i.e.: 2 + { 3 * 2 - 4 [ 2 + 6 / 2 ( 7 + 10 ) * 2 ] - 1 } * 3
Equally correct is: 2 + ( 3 * 2 - 4 ( 2 + 6 / 2 ( 7 + 10 ) * 2 ) - 1 ) * 3 but is not as readable.
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Again, that may well be an American thing - or personal preference at the very least - as I've never come across anyone who replaces brackets with square or curly brackets in mathematical equations.