INPUT uses a comma for separation. And PRINT use ; for separating the variables. That is the same as in QB/VB.
For PRINT there was no need to specify the number of bytes or elements. But for PRINTBIN there was a need to specify the number of bytes. So a numeric constant was used and no comma.
This was consistent with the syntax. Only when support for multiple SPI devices using PRINT was added, an option was required to specify the number of bytes. Using a constant was not consistent with PRINT since it would print the constant. Thus ; is still the separator, but ... a comma can be used to specify the number of bytes. I agree that it is not 100% consistent but it is not always simple to add something without breaking existing code.
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