[Edu-sig] RE: Rationals

[Douglas S. Blank]

John Posner wrote:
>>    int   / int   --> float
>>
> 
> 
> Why not this?
> 
>       int   / int   --> rat
> 
> After all, the definition of "rational" is "int divided by int".

Many Scheme implementations do exactly that. In Scheme:

 > (/ 12 23)
12/23
 > (/ 3 33)
1/11

Maybe Python should make a distinction between what it prints, and the 
internal form? For example, maybe internally Python would keep the most 
precise form of an expression, but the display format (integer, float, 
rational) could depend on other aspects (operator, hierarchy, or other 
context-sensitive items).

-Doug

 >
 > --
 > John Posner
 > jjposner@snet.net





-- 
Douglas S. Blank,         Assistant Professor
dblank@brynmawr.edu,            (610)526-6501
Bryn Mawr College,   Computer Science Program
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