Operators

Functions with names consisting of the following characters:

are called operators. They can be used to define, apply or assign functions. For instance:

define perfectly valid functions that can be used in the regular way:

resulting in maximum value of the absolute values of a and b. It would however be much more convenient to use standard operator notation:

Pico supports operator notation as a (non essential) extension of its syntax:

Calculus teaches us that infix and prefix notation involving operators requires precedence rules and a means to change these rules by using parentheses. We refer to the next chapter for a strict definition of these rules. For the moment, it is sufficient to use an intuitive approach to operators and their relative precedence.