Equation style

[Russell Blau]

This is not really a Python question, but it does relate to a Python program
I'm working on, so this seems like as good a place as any to ask for
suggestions ...

I'm working on a GUI application that lets the user enter an alegbraic
equation and displays a nicely-formatted representation of the same equation
(and then maybe does other stuff with it). The question is: if you have an
equation containing terms such as x * y / z, which way of formatting the
equation is better (these being pathetic ASCII imitations of what the GUI
would display more nicely):

y x y
x --- or --- ?
z z

Does your answer depend on whether these symbols represent numbers,
constants, or variables? (Obviously, both forms are exactly equivalent
mathematically; the question is which one looks better for display
purposes.) Any other suggestions on style would be welcome.

 

[Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk]

if you have an
equation containing terms such as x * y / z, which way of formatting the
equation is better (these being pathetic ASCII imitations of what the GUI
would display more nicely):

y x y
x --- or --- ?
z z

The second one, usually.

This also corresponds to normal operator precedence.