Re: Top 10 most common hard skills listed on resumes...

Bart <bc@freeuk.com> writes:

[...]

But this is venturing away from the question of whether the left
and right sides of an assignment are compatible, or the same, or
symmetric.
>
Obviously, one side is written to and the other is read;  the RHS
can also contain a wider range of terms than the left side.
>
But usually what can be legally on the left side on an assignment,
can also written on the right, and with the same syntax, and the
same levels of indirection.

If you wouldn't mind a suggestion or two, here are some.

First, look for accurate ways of expressing what you want to say.
Syntactically, the relationship being considered is not a
symmetry but a subset.  Considering just syntax, what can appear
on the left side of an assignment is a subset of what can appear
on the right side of an assignment.  I think everyone would agree
on that point.  After getting agreement on the syntax side of the
issue, the discussion can then pivot to semantic considerations.

Second, try not to always be so defensive.  Disagreement doesn't
always mean criticism.  Asking a question usually isn't meant as
an attack but just as an attempt to get clarification or more
information.  Focus on communication, especially on understanding
what the other side is saying.  Don't think I'm singling you out
on this;  lots of people here are guilty of not listening as much
or as carefully as they should (myself sometimes included).

Let me say explicitly, I don't mean either of these suggestions
as criticism.  My aim is only to help the conversation.