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Re: HowTo: Lookup Special Character names

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg95373] Re: HowTo: Lookup Special Character names
• From: AES <siegman at stanford.edu>
• Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:27:04 -0500 (EST)
• Organization: Stanford University
• References: <gkppnv$dkn$1@smc.vnet.net>

In article <gkppnv$dkn$1 at smc.vnet.net>, "Q.E.D." <aoe at netzero.net> 
wrote:

> Entering ?\[P*] gives a formated reference list of
> all Special Character names such as \[Pi] which match.
> ?\[*Phi] matches \[CapitalPhi], \[CurlyPhi] and \[Phi].
> 
>  ---- MUCH snipped ----
> 
> x \[Equivalent] y is by default interpreted as Equivalent[x,y].
> x \[Xnor] y is by default interpreted as Xnor[x,y].
> x \[Function] y is by default interpreted as Function[x,y].
> 
> Q.E.D.

Dear Q.E.D.,

I'm dazzled -- but also dismayed -- by your knowledge on these matters.  
I saw a note the other day that the average reasonably well educated 
English speaker has a total vocabulary in the range of 20,000 words, or 
perhaps somewhat larger.  Mathematica at this point seems well on the 
way to having a comparable number of commands, symbols, notations, 
operators, options, special characters, and so on in its own vocabulary.  
Ordinary users of Mathematica may have to give up all the other activities in 
their life, aside from eating and sleeping, just to learn Mathematica.

Would you be up for preparing a similar HowTo: post on how to obtain a 
complete list (hopefully _with definitions_ and in printable form), for 
_all_ of the non-alphabetic operators and programming "thingies" 
(whatever they're called technically) like 

   \., \\., ->, &, @, \@, &&, &&&, etc, etc, etc

that can appear in Mathematica Input cell commands?  It would be very 
useful.

   --AES

[And, is "HowTo" itself now a Mathematica command or symbol?]

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: HowTo: Lookup Special Character names
    • From: "Scot T. Martin" <smartin@deas.harvard.edu>