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In mathematics, brackets of various typographical forms, such as parentheses ( ), square brackets [ ], braces { } and angle brackets , are frequently used in mathematical notation. Generally, such bracketing denotes some form of grouping: in evaluating an expression containing a bracketed sub-expression, the operators in the sub-expression take ...
Alternatively—since the previous result can be unaesthetic, especially for inlined formulae presented as an image whose baseline does not line up with that of the running text—the punctuation can be placed after the </math> tag and then the whole formula (including the punctuation) can be enclosed with the {} template, as in This shows that ...
Order of operations. In mathematics and computer programming, the order of operations is a collection of rules that reflect conventions about which operations to perform first in order to evaluate a given mathematical expression.
Many types of bracket are used in mathematics. Their meanings depend not only on their shapes, but also on the nature and the arrangement of what is delimited by them, and sometimes what appears between or before them. For this reason, in the entry titles, the symbol is used as a placeholder for schematizing the syntax that underlies the meaning.
A comma before or after the material can also be used, though if the sentence contains commas for other purposes, visual confusion may result. A dash before and after the material is also sometimes used. Parentheses may be used in formal writing to add supplementary information, such as "Senator John McCain (R - Arizona) spoke at length".
There should be a space after a closing bracket, except where a punctuation mark follows (though a spaced dash would still be spaced after a closing bracket) and in unusual cases similar to those listed for opening brackets. Avoid adjacent sets of brackets. Either put the parenthetical phrases in one set separated by semicolons, or rewrite:
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Beyond elementary mathematics, [] are mostly used for other purposes, e.g. to denote a closed interval, or an equivalence class, so they appear rarely for grouping. The usage of the word "brackets" varies from country. In the United States, the term denotes [], known elsewhere as "square brackets".