I realize now that i never commented on the choice between !=, <>, ne, neq or whatever

as a c# developer by heart. I am partial to !=. <> is more basic-like and i like it too. One of the nice features of using ! is the terseness you can lend to an IF NOT conditional. I would maybe rather have another command that is simply "IF NOT X = Y" rather than "IF ! X = Y" and then leave inequality as "<>"

Sorry for the ramble.