It seems to me that the truth of this is that 'most programmers' think 'most other programmers' don't know or can't remember operator precedence, so they indulge in what is indulgently called 'defensive programming' by 'inserting the missing parentheses', just to 'clarify' that. Whether remembering this third-grade stuff is a real problem is another question. It just as arguable that all this is a complete waste of time and if anything makes things worse. My own view is that redundant syntax is to be avoided wherever possible, and that programmers should know the language they are using.

It seems to me that the truth of this is that 'most programmers' think 'most other programmers' don't know or can't remember operator precedence, so they indulge in what is indulgently called 'defensive programming' by 'inserting the missing parentheses', just to 'clarify' that. Whether remembering this third-grade stuff is a real problem is another question. It just as arguable that all this is a complete waste of time and if anything makes things worse. My own view is that redundant syntax is to be avoided wherever possible, and that computer programmers should know the language they are programming in, and also perhaps raise their expectations of their colleagues.