msssltd:
Technical English is written using open form punctuation, omitting all that is not essential. English language students are taught the more expressive and pedantic, closed form, punctuation.
Then why are the Technical School going students burdened with so many years of English Language Course (in my country, it is for 13 years for non-natives) if they are not required to practice strictly the punctuation rules of the language?
The following excerpt is taken from a recent post of an anonymous poster of some other section of this Forum. Is the line well punctuated in respect of the use of the transitional adverb -- otherwise?
*I'm assuming that 'distance' and 'maxDistance' are 'int', otherwise there would be no need to promote them to 'long'. *
In the punctuation class, we have learnt that the smooth transition from one clause to another clause in a sentence should be made through the use of a punctuated 'transitional adverb.' In this case, the punctuation marks are the semi-colon and comma which are to be placed before and after the transitional adverb (the otherwise). The rule is more than 100 years old, and it is still found in the 'Text Book of English Grammar.'
I am sure that the reviewer of my Technical Journal/Conference paper would alert me to punctuate the above-quoted sentence and in response, I would re-write this way:
I'm assuming that 'distance' and 'maxDistance' are 'int'; otherwise, there would be no need to promote them to 'long'.