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  • 95
    I may be lazy, but I prefer to have parentheses in most of such situations for readability. Commented Jun 11, 2013 at 14:16
  • 6
    Me too. I'm just hoping I'm doing it more for readability and less because I'm too lazy to become confident/competent in the basics of my langauge. Commented Jun 11, 2013 at 14:31
  • 18
    Good usage of parentheses is like good usage of grammar. 2 * 3 + 2 might be the same as (2 * 3) + 2 but the second is easier to read. Commented Jun 11, 2013 at 14:36
  • 20
    @Mathew Maybe if you’re weak in maths. For more complex cases, sure, use parentheses. But for blindingly obvious ones (BODMAS …) they reduce readability more than aiding it due to clutter. Commented Jun 11, 2013 at 21:40
  • 3
    @timgoodman, sure in c; but not in SmallTalk or psuedocode or whiteboard interview, all of which have different amorphous rules Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 3:04