Aaltosulut

Aaltosulut, a Finnish term roughly translating to "wave brackets" or "curvy parentheses," refers to the mathematical symbol {} used to denote sets. In set theory, a set is a collection of distinct elements, and aaltosulut are the standard notation for enclosing these elements. For example, the set containing the numbers 1, 2, and 3 would be written as {1, 2, 3}. The order of elements within a set does not matter, so {1, 2, 3} is the same set as {3, 1, 2}.

The concept of sets and the use of aaltosulut are fundamental in various branches of mathematics, including logic, discrete mathematics, and computer science. They are used to define collections of objects, perform operations on those collections, and express relationships between them. Beyond pure mathematics, aaltosulut are commonly encountered in programming languages, particularly those with a C-like syntax, where they are used for code blocks, object literals, or defining associative arrays. In these contexts, their meaning is specific to the programming language's syntax and semantics, but the visual resemblance to mathematical set notation is often intentional, reflecting the underlying data structures.