Numeric Programming for Everybody (was Re: I had a thought ...)

David Lees DavidLnospamm at raqia.com
Tue Jun 5 18:56:53 EDT 2001


Neil,

I am a Python newbie, but I must disagree completely with your view. 
You should worry a lot about numeric representation and are being really
cavalier for someone doing 'real world application'.  IF you use
floating point in my opinion you really should understand what is going
on underneath.  Understanding why you can not blithely add 0.1 1000
times and expect to get 100 is important for many real world
applications.   Further, even if you stick to fixed point, you better
know how many bits are in your representation or you risk overflow.  My
point is that understanding the internal representation, regardless of
the type of programming you do should be important.

<flame off>

david lees

Neil Benn wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> > How can the language
> > accommodate the differing needs of the learner and dilettante on the one
> > hand, and the specialists in various kinds of numeric programming on the
> > other?
> 
> Or should it?  As a programmer interested in interfacing to serial devices
> over RS-232, I really don't care about the intricacies of floating point
> calculations.  If practically 2+2=4, then I'm fine with that.  I think in
> the majority of real world applications, in a pragmatic sense most people
> don't care of the intricacies of number representation as long as it works
> (which in 99.9999999% of cases - it does for a fixed, static
> implementation).  Leave that to the experts, it's not just learners who
> don't care about the floating point philosophies.
> 
>     For highly specialised programming requirements (e.g. mathematical work,
> advanced neural netoworking) then highly specialised tools should be used,
> obviously that's a personal opinion not a statement!  For everything else,
> just get it to work and work reliably.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Neil
> 
> "Don Dwiggins" <dwig at advancedmp.net> wrote in message
> news:mailman.991685948.23344.python-list at python.org...
> > Tim Peters writes:
> > > [Don Dwiggins]
> > >> See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q172/3/38.ASP for
> > >> one use of Currency having nothing to do with money.
> >
> > > Cute!  In an earlier, unrelated thread, we learned that the Currency
> type is
> > > really a 64-bit int, conceptually scaled by a factor of 10000.  The
> > > performance counter API uses 64-bit ints directly.  So they're the same
> > > thing, except that the VB code at the link has to fiddle around
> multiplying
> > > the Frequency value by a magic 10000 to get VB to *treat* the value like
> a
> > > real 64-bit int.  OTOH, in (Ctr2 - Ctr1) / Freq, the 10000's cancel out
> so
> > > they dare not play with magic multipliers in *that* context.  Oh ya -- I
> bet
> > > all the VB programmers understand this in sufficient detail to bet the
> > > business on <wink>.
> >
> > This, and the various threads on numeric representation and computation,
> > triggered the following thoughts:
> >
> > - Common number systems can't be completely and accurately represented in
> >   computers -- some limitations and/or approximations must be accepted.
> >
> > - This is widely acknowledged among programmers, but not obvious to
> >   newcomers.
> >
> > - Many of those who acknowledge it don't have a complete understanding of
> >   the "limitations and/or approximations" and the sometimes subtle
> >   consequences for building software that handles numbers "reasonably".
> (As
> >   evidence, I offer the discussions in this group.  I also freely admit
> >   that, if I were to undertake serious floating-point programming again,
> I'd
> >   have to brush up on the details.)
> >
> > - For many purposes, a relatively naive level of understanding is
> sufficient
> >   -- provided it's accompanied by an appreciation that there's more to it,
> >   and that one may be required to learn the details of floating point,
> >   rational representations, etc.
> >
> > So, what are the implications for "Computer Programming for Everybody"?
> How
> > much and what knowledge should the newbie be expected to master, to avoid
> > falling into various traps?  What conceptual model(s) of numbers should a
> > language (say, for example, Python) present to the learner to be generally
> > useful without making it too easy to go wrong?  How can the language
> > accommodate the differing needs of the learner and dilettante on the one
> > hand, and the specialists in various kinds of numeric programming on the
> > other?
> >
> > --
> > Don Dwiggins                    "Solvitur Ambulando"
> > Advanced MP Technology
> > dwig at advancedmp.net
> >
> >



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