Talk:Boolean function
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Plus and its vicissitudes
- JA: In mathematical contexts, let me recommend using "+" for the field operation in GF(2), and thus for the boolean operation also known as "XOR", "NEQ", etc. This is the way that Boole originally used it, so it's a misnomer to describe inclusive disjunction by that name. When Peirce and Jevons later made OR a main squeeze, they respected prior algebraic use and coined new symbols for it, Peirce using "+," at first. It seems to have been Schröder who initiated the perversion of using "+" for OR, and that became more commmon in engineering applications, but it has caused almost as much miscommunication and consequent wasted resources as English and Metric units on the same spacecraft. Jon Awbrey 19:42, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
- Done. I had been in two minds as to whether I should use "+". My knowledge of boolean functions is pretty much limited to their uses in crypto, so feel free to edit as you see fit. …Ner102 21:26, 12 March 2006 (UTC)