I can. All the op= operators are centered on the left operand. That (if nothing else) makes "left stable" operations much more common than "right stable" ones. It continues to carry down to the "left stable" realloc which often makes such operations more efficient too. Thus the main data collection is more commonly in the left operand and the (typically smaller) change to it in the right.
When it comes to `|, I believe it's more useful if the order of the main data collection takes precedence over that of the change since it's typically the existence of the elements and not the order that one wants from the change.
/ Martin Stjernholm, Roxen IS
Previous text:
2002-12-03 20:50: Subject: `| and order on arrays
Today you have that "consistency" for the right element instead:
- if (bar[-3] == 4) x();
- bar = foo | bar;
- if (bar[-3] == 4) x();
You can't have both, and I don't see why one would be more important than the other.
/ Marcus Comstedt (ACROSS) (Hail Ilpalazzo!)