ASCII text, with very long lines (4903)
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title: Symbols
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date: 2021 Oct 10
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In our lifes on the internet, we see alot of characters that we don't normally see. Like @, #, &, [], {}, \\, ;, and |. But what are thier names, what are their origins, and why do they look like they do? I'm going to try and find out!<br />Let's start with what they are used for most of the time on the web.<ol><li>@ is used to mean at. It can also be used to define a username(<span style="font-weight:bold">@</span>user), or even emails(person<span style="font-weight:bold">@</span>emailprovider.topleveldomain)</li><li>The hashtag, #, is used for tagging posts to topics(<span style="font-weight:bold">#</span>NumberOneProgrammer). It is also sometimes used to define a number(<span style="font-weight:bold">#</span>1). It's also used in CSS to define IDs, and in urls to scroll down to a certain part of the page(<span style="font-weight:bold">#</span>theMan).</li><li>& is a symbol used to mean "and"(the dog <span style="font-weight:bold">&</span> the cat). It is also used in urls to be an addition to the search(?q=look%20mom%20no%hands%21<span style="font-weight:bold">&</span>images)</li><li>Square brackets([]), are used to define a list in the most widely used programming language on the web, JavaScript(<span style="font-weight:bold">[</span>"the dog", "the cat", "the bird", "the plane"<span style="font-weight:bold">]</span>). They can also be used in the middle of quotes to give context("Have a nice day!" <span style="font-weight:bold">[</span>The mayor<span style="font-weight:bold">]</span> shouted)</li><li>Curly brackets({}) are used to define a JavaScript object( {person: "Jim", car: "JavaScript car :)"} )</li><li>backslash(\\) is used in markdown, and JavaScript strings, to define a character that should remain itself, such as <span style="font-weight:bold">\\</span># showing up as a # instead of a heading.</li><li>Semi-collins(;) are used to define the end of a command in lots of programming languages, like JavaScript(alert("hello world")<span style="font-weight:bold">;</span>), PHP(echo "hello world"<span style="font-weight:bold">;</span>)</li><li>|, or Vertical bar, has no <em>real</em> use on the web.</li><li>~, or tilde, also, doesn't find much use</li><li>Grave accents(\`) are used to define a multi-lined JavaScript string(<span style="font-weight:bold">\`</span>this has<br />2 lines<span style="font-weight:bold">\`</span>)</li></ol>Those are what they are, but what about their original meanings?<ol><li>The At-Sign(@) is used to mean at(they're <span style="font-weight:bold">@</span> their house), it could also be used for a price(<span style="font-weight:bold">@</span>10 pence)</li><li>#(pound-sign, hashtag, number-sign, octothorpe, sharp-sign), it's used to mean lb(10 <span style="font-weight:bold">#</span>), define numbers(<span style="font-weight:bold">#</span>10), define a tag in social media(<span style="font-weight:bold">#</span>NumberOneCoder), to define the musical notes that are sharp, or used on telephones to do... something.</li><li>Ampersands(&) are used as &, that's it(doges <span style="font-weight:bold">&</span> golden retrievers).</li><li>[Square Brackets] are used as a way to add context to the middle of a sentence, like "he ate the sausage", but we don't know who "he" is, and what kind of sausage he is eating, so it should be "<span style="font-weight:bold">[the young boy]</span> ate the <span style="font-weight:bold">[cheese filled]</span> sausage"</li><li>{Curly Brackets} don't get much use. They would be used for <span style="font-weight:bold">{</span>defining words, lines, sentences as being in a group<span style="font-weight:bold">}</span>.</li><li>|s are used to define absolute value, like <span style="font-weight:bold">|-2|</span> = 2. It can also be used as a replacement for periods, and forward slashed</li><li>The backslash doesn't get much real use in writing. In math, it is used to represent the set difference(which I won't really explain), such as a<span style="font-weight:bold">\\</span>n</li><li>The Semicolon is used to seperate ideas in a sentence filled with commas, add seperation between an explaination<span style="font-weight:bold">;</span> and a seperator(,) in a list, and merge 2 sentences together without a compound(and, but, or). Such as "I am so happy for them, and I am proud" & "I am so happy; I am proud." act the same. If you'd like a better explaination, I'd suggest you to check out <a href="https://youtu.be/th-zyfvwDdI">How to use a semicolon</a> by Ted-Ed, it's a great whatch, and it's presented in an interesting and fun style.</li><li>Grave accents(\`) are used in some words from other languages, but not much in English. However it can be used in songs and poems to indicate that silent letters aren't silent.</li><li>Tildes(~) can be used in a sentence to mean about, for example, <span style="font-weight:bold">~</span>10.</li></ol>
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