why do we write ::= instead of, say, = in our BNF-esque specifications of syntax?
τ ::= A | τ → τ | …
is it just so that we don’t have to figure out notation for escaping if we want to use = in the rhs?
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Yeah, I'm guessing it's because you rarely are defining grammars using grammars - would love to know the origin of it though!