Are you saying my current explanation (in the comments here) does or doesn’t make sense to you? (i.e. if I just edit that explanation into the top, does it solve the problem you’re worried about, or does it feel like it needs a better explanation?)
I scrolled past that comment because it was in a sub-sub-thread I wasn’t immediately interested in, but now I see that it answers my question, yes. If you edit it into the main post, maybe make the explanation a bit shorter?
Meta feedback: I recommend, in the strongest possible terms, not to use obscure jargon in important communications (which includes essay titles), because it can and will be misinterpreted. You get about five words, after all, and the title plus explanation far exceed that.
Personally I’ve done a bunch of hobbyist programming, and I’ve seen but never personally used that syntax (does it even exist in Python?). Now consider that most people have zero programming experience (although I wonder about the median programming experience of LW users), and I suspect that if they’re familiar with ”!=” or ”!==” at all, they’re more likely to be familiar with ”!=” as the “unequal” sign in mathematics. But that results in a misleading interpretation of the title! I read “A != B”, and interpreted it not as “A is not 100% equal to B”, but as “A is very different from B”.
Are you saying my current explanation (in the comments here) does or doesn’t make sense to you? (i.e. if I just edit that explanation into the top, does it solve the problem you’re worried about, or does it feel like it needs a better explanation?)
I scrolled past that comment because it was in a sub-sub-thread I wasn’t immediately interested in, but now I see that it answers my question, yes. If you edit it into the main post, maybe make the explanation a bit shorter?
Meta feedback: I recommend, in the strongest possible terms, not to use obscure jargon in important communications (which includes essay titles), because it can and will be misinterpreted. You get about five words, after all, and the title plus explanation far exceed that.
Personally I’ve done a bunch of hobbyist programming, and I’ve seen but never personally used that syntax (does it even exist in Python?). Now consider that most people have zero programming experience (although I wonder about the median programming experience of LW users), and I suspect that if they’re familiar with ”!=” or ”!==” at all, they’re more likely to be familiar with ”!=” as the “unequal” sign in mathematics. But that results in a misleading interpretation of the title! I read “A != B”, and interpreted it not as “A is not 100% equal to B”, but as “A is very different from B”.