Learning math on the internet is hard. Different people use different notations and assume different backgrounds.

I encourage the poster to read and learn more about exterior algebras! Once you've seen Stoke's theorem, the Hodge decomposition, Maxwell's equations, etc. written using them you'll never go back and those old school t-shirts with "and god said..."[1] will make you cringe.

I hope/expect to see them taught in basic calculus and physics, but it takes generations for things to trickle down.

[1] http://images6.cafepress.com/product/96599546v11_350x350_Fro...