The Wolfram Language handles many different kinds of things: mathematical formulas, lists, and graphics, to name a few. Although they often look very different, the Wolfram Language represents all of these things in one uniform way. They are all expressions.

A prototypical example of a Wolfram Language expression is f[x,y]. You might use f[x,y] to represent a mathematical function . The function is named f, and it has two arguments, x and y.

You do not always have to write expressions in the form f[x,y,…]. For example, x+y is also an expression. When you type in x+y, the Wolfram Language converts it to the standard form Plus[x,y]. Then, when it prints it out again, it gives it as x+y.

The same is true of other "operators", such as ^ (Power) and / (