Squeakers,

>*yes*, the "pascalish" ":=" assignment is ANSI and it should be used as

It stems from Algol 60. And Algol 60 inherited it from mathematics, where it is
used to "define" something. Algol 60 was not only used as a programming language 
but also as a mathematical notation to describe algorithms concisely and 
unambiguously.

As a mathematical notation Algol 60 used strange symbols. So something that 
resembles a little "v" is the boolean "or" operator. These symbols were employed 
regardless of the limitations imposed by keyboards and display devices.

Nowadays Smalltalk offers all the flexibility needed. The scanner in my image, 
that originated from Squeak 1.18, does not accept ":=" any more. I simply do not 
need it. In the tradition of mathematics and Algol 60 I have the human reader in 
mind when composing a method, and if a computer program cannot cope with my 
preferences, I prefer to adapt the program to my taste instead of adapting my 
taste to the limitations of some "standards".

Regards,
Wolfgang
--
Weniger, aber besser.