5 exercises on saying bracket and parenthesis symbols aloud.
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In US English, what are "( )" called when read aloud in code?
The ( ) symbols are called parentheses /pəˈrɛnθəsiːz/ (plural; singular "parenthesis" /pəˈrɛnθəsɪs/) in US English. Developers very often shorten this to "parens" /ˈpærɛnz/. So "wrap it in parens", "open paren, close paren." In British English "( )" are commonly called "round brackets" or just "brackets." Do not confuse with "braces" { } or "square brackets" [ ]. The four-syllable word stresses the second: pa-REN-the-sees.
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In US English, what are "{ }" called when read aloud?
The { } symbols are called braces /breɪsɪz/ in US English, very often "curly braces" or "curly brackets" for clarity. So "open brace, close brace", "wrap the block in curly braces." They are used for code blocks, objects, and sets. Do not call them "parentheses" ( ) or "square brackets" [ ]. The word "braces" rhymes with "faces." In British usage "curly brackets" is common.
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In US English, what are "[ ]" called when read aloud?
The [ ] symbols are called square brackets, and in US English very often simply "brackets" (since "brackets" defaults to the square ones in America). So "index into the array with square brackets", "open bracket zero close bracket" for "[0]." In British English the unqualified word "brackets" usually means ( ), so Brits say "square brackets" to be specific. Used for array indexing and lists.
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What are "< >" called when used as brackets (e.g. generics or HTML tags)?
The < > symbols, when used as enclosing brackets (generics like List<T>, or HTML tags), are called angle brackets /ˈæŋɡəl ˈbrækɪts/. When used as math comparison operators, "<" is "less than" and ">" is "greater than." So "List angle-bracket T" or "List of T," versus "if a less-than b." They are also called "chevrons." Do not call them "curly braces" { } or "parentheses" ( ).
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How is the lone "<" symbol read in a comparison like "a < b"?
As a comparison operator, < is read "less than" /lɛs ðæn/. So "a less than b" tests whether a is smaller. The "th" in "than" is the voiced /ð/ sound (as in "this"), not /θ/. Correspondingly ">" is "greater than," "<=" is "less than or equal to," and ">=" is "greater than or equal to." When the same symbols enclose something (generics, tags), they switch to being called "angle brackets" instead.