Convention for ascii shorthand for calculus functions

[rob]

I was just trying to type some notes for calculus equations using my
trusty ascii-only code editor, and ended up with my own odd shorthand
for notating integrals and such. It occurred to me that this is
probably done frequenty, and there's probably a convention, right?

Ex: Just as exponents in written in asciii as x^2, there must be some
accepted text for saying "integral" along with limits, etc.

Is this published on any website? What is normally used here?

[Dirk Van de moortel]

Everything is used here :-)
Check this out:
http://www.wjagray.co.uk/maths/ASCIIMathTutorial.html
and
http://docs.mathjax.org/en/latest/
http://docs.mathjax.org/en/latest/asciimath.html
http://www1.chapman.edu/~jipsen/mathml/asciimathsyntax.html
etc...
Excellent.

Dirk Vdm

[William Elliot]

On Sun, 19 May 2013, rob wrote:

> I was just trying to type some notes for calculus equations using my
> trusty ascii-only code editor, and ended up with my own odd shorthand
> for notating integrals and such. It occurred to me that this is
> probably done frequenty, and there's probably a convention, right?
>
> Ex: Just as exponents in written in asciii as x^2, there must be some
> accepted text for saying "integral" along with limits, etc.

integral(a,b) f(x) dx

integral(0,1) x dx = 1/2 * x^2 |_0^1 = 1/2

> Is this published on any website? What is normally used here?

exp x = e^x = exp(x)

f_x(x,y) partial derivative of f with respect to x.

x_j = x sub j

lim(n->oo) a_n = limit of the sequence (a_n)_n
lim(j->oo) aj = limit of the sequence (aj)_j
lim(x->a) f(x) = limit of f as x -> a (x approaches a)

/\ intersection \/ union

Any others you'd like?

Do use spaces for readability. For example

ax^2 + bx + c = a(x - r1)(x - r2)
instead of
ax^2+bx+c=a(x-r1)(x-r1)

I've 100k of math notes all in ascii, which I find
most efficient to use over complicated stuff.

[Dirk Van de moortel]

I'd write that as
a x^2 + b x + c = a (x - r1) (x - r2),
using a space for multiplication.
This also removes the ambiguity of someting like
a(x - r1),
which, as is written here, could either be a product or a function value:
a (x - r1) is a multiplication of a and x - r1,
but
a(x - r1) is function value of a in x - r1.
The latter I would even write as
a( x - r1 )

Dirk Vdm

[Dr J R Stockton]

In sci.math message <94lip85qc6kghcsd4...@4ax.com>, Sun,
19 May 2013 18:43:51, rob <rob@_no_spam_.com> posted:

Consider <http://www.mathjax.org/>.


--
(c) John Stockton, nr London, UK. E-mail, see Home Page. Turnpike v6.05.
Website <http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/> - w. FAQish topics, links, acronyms
PAS EXE etc. : <http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/programs/> - see in 00index.htm
Dates - miscdate.htm estrdate.htm js-dates.htm pas-time.htm critdate.htm etc.

[rob]

On Sun, 19 May 2013 18:34:50 -0700, William Elliot <ma...@panix.com>
wrote:

Late getting back, but I did want to say thanks for the replies.
The javascript stuff looks very cool. I'll figure out a way to use
that later.

For now, I was looking for ways to quickly take notes in a straight
ascii code editor--no html. The integral notation above is a bit
better than what I came up with.

Is there any convention for set theory? U = union, but how would you
note the inverted U or sideways, etc. Any convention there?

[William Elliot]

On Mon, 27 May 2013, rob wrote:
> >
> >> I was just trying to type some notes for calculus equations using my
> >> trusty ascii-only code editor, and ended up with my own odd shorthand
> >> for notating integrals and such. It occurred to me that this is
> >> probably done frequenty, and there's probably a convention, right?
> >>
> >> Ex: Just as exponents in written in asciii as x^2, there must be some
> >> accepted text for saying "integral" along with limits, etc.
> >
> >integral(a,b) f(x) dx
> >integral(0,1) x dx = 1/2 * x^2 |_0^1 = 1/2
> >
> >> Is this published on any website? What is normally used here?
> >
> >exp x = e^x = exp(x)
> >
> >f_x(x,y) partial derivative of f with respect to x.
> >
> >x_j = x sub j
> >
> >lim(n->oo) a_n = limit of the sequence (a_n)_n
> >lim(j->oo) aj = limit of the sequence (aj)_j
> >lim(x->a) f(x) = limit of f as x -> a (x approaches a)
> >

> >Any others you'd like?
> >
> >Do use spaces for readability. For example
> > ax^2 + bx + c = a(x - r1)(x - r2)
> >instead of
> > ax^2+bx+c=a(x-r1)(x-r1)
> >
> >I've 100k of math notes all in ascii, which I find
> >most efficient to use over complicated stuff.
>
> Late getting back, but I did want to say thanks for the replies.

On the third day without a reply, I delete the thread.
You're lucky that I noticed you.

> For now, I was looking for ways to quickly take notes in a straight
> ascii code editor--no html. The integral notation above is a bit
> better than what I came up with.
>
> Is there any convention for set theory? U = union, but how would you
> note the inverted U or sideways, etc. Any convention there?

/\ intersection \/ union
A subset B A is a subset of B
A\B = A - B = { x | x in A, x not in B }
X^Y = { f | f:X -> Y }

(a,b) = { {a,b}, {a} } ordered pair
AxB = { (a,b) | a in A, b in B } product of A and B
P(S) = { A | A subset S } power set of S

|A| = card A = cardinality of A

[Virgil]

In article <5t46q8h6oo0ruoa0r...@4ax.com>,

A \/ B for union,
A /\ B for intersection
A \ B for set differences
a e B for membership
A < B for proper subset and r A <= B for subset, at least where A and B
are clearly sets
--

[rob]

On Mon, 27 May 2013 01:37:24 -0700, William Elliot <ma...@panix.com>
wrote:

>On Mon, 27 May 2013, rob wrote:
>> >
>> >> I was just trying to type some notes for calculus equations using my
>> >> trusty ascii-only code editor, and ended up with my own odd shorthand
>> >> for notating integrals and such. It occurred to me that this is
>> >> probably done frequenty, and there's probably a convention, right?
>>

>> Late getting back, but I did want to say thanks for the replies.
>
>On the third day without a reply, I delete the thread.
>You're lucky that I noticed you.

Glad that you did. Evidently you do the ascii thing a lot. I've been
running into a lot of cases lately where it's really awkward. Many in
statistics, which I've just started studying (zzzzz), including the
over/under notations.

>> For now, I was looking for ways to quickly take notes in a straight
>> ascii code editor--no html. The integral notation above is a bit
>> better than what I came up with.
>>
>> Is there any convention for set theory? U = union, but how would you
>> note the inverted U or sideways, etc. Any convention there?
>
>/\ intersection \/ union
>A subset B A is a subset of B
>A\B = A - B = { x | x in A, x not in B }
>X^Y = { f | f:X -> Y }
>
>(a,b) = { {a,b}, {a} } ordered pair
>AxB = { (a,b) | a in A, b in B } product of A and B
>P(S) = { A | A subset S } power set of S
>
>|A| = card A = cardinality of A

Very good. I was using plain U for union, but even that could be
ambiguous, and it's nice to have similarity between intersection and
union.

Thanks again!

[William Elliot]

On Mon, 27 May 2013, Virgil wrote:
> a e B for membership

> A < B for proper subset and r A <= B for subset, at least where A and B
> are clearly sets

Not good for ascii. a in B; A subset B; A proper subset B.

[fom]

I agree. Virgil is clear that this use requires a contextual
interpretation, but I just see the inequality symbols as being
fundamentally arithmetical.

I probably would not use 'in' either. Since my particular uses
involve membership and proper subset, 'e' and 'c' suffice. But,
I acknowledge that your forms are generally better. I would
simply use 'element' or 'member' rather than 'in'.

[Aatu Koskensilta]

fom <fom...@nyms.net> writes:

> I probably would not use 'in' either. Since my particular uses
> involve membership and proper subset, 'e' and 'c' suffice. But,
> I acknowledge that your forms are generally better. I would
> simply use 'element' or 'member' rather than 'in'.

This depends on the context. Sometimes "for all elements of A, it
holds that..." is more natural, sometimes "for all b in B, ..." feels
better. As with any writing, one needs to develop a feel for this sort
of thing. As a rule of thumb, "x in y" is better for formulas, "x is an
element of y" or "a member x of y" for prose.

--
Aatu Koskensilta (aatu.kos...@uta.fi)

"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen"
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

[William Elliot]

On Tue, 28 May 2013, Aatu Koskensilta wrote:

> fom <fom...@nyms.net> writes:
>
> > I probably would not use 'in' either. Since my particular uses
> > involve membership and proper subset, 'e' and 'c' suffice. But,
> > I acknowledge that your forms are generally better. I would
> > simply use 'element' or 'member' rather than 'in'.
>
> This depends on the context. Sometimes "for all elements of A, it
> holds that..." is more natural, sometimes "for all b in B, ..." feels
> better. As with any writing, one needs to develop a feel for this sort
> of thing. As a rule of thumb, "x in y" is better for formulas, "x is an
> element of y" or "a member x of y" for prose.
>

Also c for subset is terrible. Already two letters have been removed
from use. Consider eeR\QcR=R+c as some would write. Lots of confusion.

Another wonder is those who insist A in B for A subset B.
Well hurrah, {0} in { 0, {0} } ???

[fom]

On 5/27/2013 8:49 PM, Aatu Koskensilta wrote:
> fom <fom...@nyms.net> writes:
>
>> I probably would not use 'in' either. Since my particular uses
>> involve membership and proper subset, 'e' and 'c' suffice. But,
>> I acknowledge that your forms are generally better. I would
>> simply use 'element' or 'member' rather than 'in'.
>
> This depends on the context. Sometimes "for all elements of A, it
> holds that..." is more natural, sometimes "for all b in B, ..." feels
> better. As with any writing, one needs to develop a feel for this sort
> of thing. As a rule of thumb, "x in y" is better for formulas, "x is an
> element of y" or "a member x of y" for prose.
>

I agree with you. It is just that there is some ambiguity
with 'in' as it is sometimes associated with subsets rather
than members. For that reason, I have simply tried to
avoid its use personally.

Still, it is fairly typical in the context of these newsgroups.
So, that confusion is minimal with respect to the distinction
you are making.

[fom]

Well,... spanked twice.

I concede to both of you and will try to change
my habits in the future.

:-)