This operator was popularized by C, so comparisons with C make sense. Of course you wouldn&#x27;t remove pointers from C, the language would barely work if you did.<p>Confusing C-isms like pointers are what Swift is trying to get away from. This is another case of that.<p>&quot;We&#x27;re making a new language, it isn&#x27;t C, but will share some characteristics. Which should those be?&quot; is the question being asked here.