footnote syntax

[Michel Fortin]

Le 2008-02-08 à 2:26, Richard Taytor a écrit :


> I searched the list but didn't find an answer to this question.

>

> Why is the caret[^c] preferred over the asterisk[*a] for footnote  

> markers?

>

> [^c]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caret

> [*a]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterisk


I'm not the one who came up with the syntax in the first place, but I  
think it's clearer to use a new character rather than overloading the  
asterisk with yet another meaning. Also, to me at least, ^ evokes the  
exponentiation operator which is represented as superscript in  
mathematics, which in turn could make me think of a superscript  
footnote marker.


Michel Fortin
michel.fortin at michelf.com
http://michelf.com/