In typography, the characters [], used for parenthetical expressions. Brackets are often used in general text material—especially quoites and excerpts from other sources—to indicate alterations made to the original quote by an editor, such as "Now is the [summer] of our discontent [...]". Brackets are also used in mathematics (particularly in equations) and computer programming to group certain elements together. Brackets—also known as square brackets—are usually used second in the parenthetical progression, the first being parentheses, the third being braces, as in a(b[c{d + e}]).
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