# Why are there all these strange stumbling blocks in Julia?

**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-are-there-all-these-strange-stumbling-blocks-in-julia/92644
**Category:** New to Julia
**Tags:** syntax, python
**Created:** [January 7, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-are-there-all-these-strange-stumbling-blocks-in-julia/92644 "2023-01-07T18:19:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![DNF](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/dnf/32/10191_2.png) [@DNF](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/DNF)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-are-there-all-these-strange-stumbling-blocks-in-julia/92644/2 "2023-01-07T18:27:54Z")

</div>

> [@Sandjan](#):
>
> Why is there no short and simple floor division operator like in Python //?

There are two: `div` and `÷`, the latter being an infix operator.

> [@Sandjan](#):
>
> Why is the type conversation not as short and sweet as in Python int(“4”)?

Type conversion is completely straightforward: `Int(x)`. If you are talking about parsing strings into numbers, that is not conversion, but parsing, and is, appropriately, called `parse`.

> [@Sandjan](#):
>
> Why do I concatenate strings with \* instead of + ? (that makes no sense to me at all)

This is a big discussion, but string concatenation is more like multiplication than like addition, therefore `*` does in fact make more sense, but it is more unfamiliar to new users.

> [@Sandjan](#):
>
> Why does the indexing start with 1 instead of 0 as in most established languages?

0-based indexing is good in some places, 1-based in other places. I scientific programming 1-based is better, and frankly, IMO, it also makes a lot more sense in general. It’s too much to get into here, though.

> [@Sandjan](#):
>
> What was wrong with the simple dict syntax of Python? {“Hello”: “World”}

Nothing wrong with that syntax, but braces was used for a different purpose in Julia, which was more important. Also, dictionaries are probably less important and less used in Julia than in Python.

---

_[View the full topic](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-are-there-all-these-strange-stumbling-blocks-in-julia/92644)._