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Add a short discussion of string concatenation to the FAQ. #24487

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Oct 18, 2018
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Add a short discussion of string concatenation to the FAQ. #24487

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4c971b7
Add a short discussion of string concatenation to the FAQ.
tpapp Nov 6, 2017
48384a6
Added anchor to Concatenation section, linked it in FAQ.
tpapp Nov 6, 2017
7523b57
removed section about discussion
tpapp Oct 18, 2018
d647832
backticks for operators, line breaks
tpapp Oct 18, 2018
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6 changes: 6 additions & 0 deletions doc/src/manual/faq.md
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Expand Up @@ -593,6 +593,12 @@ julia> remotecall_fetch(anon_bar, 2)
1
```

### Why does Julia use "*" for string concatenation? Why not "+" or something else?
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You can use code formatting in headings, so maybe update "*" -> `*` and likewise for +?


The [main argument](@ref man-concatenation) against `+` is that string concatenation is not commutative, while `+` is generally used as a commutative operator. While the Julia community recognizes that other languages use different operators and `*` may be unfamiliar for some users, syntax choices always have a subjective element and further discussions about this operator have not turned out to be productive, so it is not likely to change in the short run.
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The nature of the discussion around the operator is not really relevant here. This reads a bit passive-aggressive to me.

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Sorry about that, English is not my first language. The intent was to convey the idea that the question has been given due consideration.

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I wish something like this had been merged into the docs - my colleague and I were wondering why such an awkward operator was being used for string concatenation, and at least this provides the rationale. I mean, it still doesn't really make sense to me since * is generally used for multiplication which is also a commutative operation (between scalars).

In any case, I think the first sentence of that explanation is great and would make a valuable addition to the docs i.e.

Why does Julia use "*" for string concatenation? Why not "+" or something else?

The [main argument](@ref man-concatenation) against + is that string concatenation is not commutative, while + is generally used as a commutative operator.

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Maybe I can reword this. In the past year or so, this issue/discussion came up surprisingly rarely, so the FAQ may not need to address that part.


Note that you can also use `string(...)` to concatenate strings (and other values converted to strings); similarly, `repeat` can be used instead of `^` to repeat strings. The [interpolation syntax](@ref string-interpolation) is also useful for constructing strings.
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Split up these two lines into multiple ones at around ~92 chars?


## Packages and Modules

### What is the difference between "using" and "import"?
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion doc/src/manual/strings.md
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Expand Up @@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ further discussion of UTF-8 encoding issues, see the section below on [byte arra
The [`transcode`](@ref) function is provided to convert data between the various UTF-xx encodings,
primarily for working with external data and libraries.

## Concatenation
## [Concatenation](@id man-concatenation)

One of the most common and useful string operations is concatenation:

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