Re: origin of := and =: -

In article <433C5BD3.4070102@xxxxxxxxx> JEMebius <jemebius@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
> If I remember well, the notation A:=B for "A becomes B" was introduced
> in computing practice by John W. Backus in an article about a proposal
> for a computer language (later known as ALGOL58, a forerunner of ALGOL60):
>
> John W. Backus: The syntax and semantics of the proposed international
> algebraic language of the Zurich ACM-GAMM Conference. IFIP Congress
> 1959: 125-131

A pity he did not use =: where the thing that received the value is on
the right. All statements and expressions in Algol 60 are read left
to right, except assignments.
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/
.

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