BODMAS, BOMDAS and DAMNUS

摘要

The motivation to write this chapter arose after several experiences over a number of years led me to believe that the issues surrounding BODMAS were not as trivial as I originally believed. As similar experiences recurred I began to suspect that perhaps the usage of the acronyms was widespread, even though I could not find references to it in any textbooks. Through anecdotes and explanatory comments, I want to put a personal point of view rejecting outright the use of such terms. Reference will also be made to "left to right" and "right to left" rules and to the associative property, which is related to the use of arbitrary rules.