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[Numpy-discussion] ?

Rainer Deyke root at rainerdeyke.com
Fri Oct 27 12:55:21 EDT 2000 
"Steve Holden" <sholden at holdenweb.com> wrote in message
news:39F977D2.4F377C13 at holdenweb.com...
> Rainer Deyke wrote:
> > It should be noted that kids in school typically learn integer division
with
> > remainder before they learn about fractions or decimal numbers.
>
> In mathematics, of course, the integers were generalised into the
rationals
> precisely because of their unsatisfactroy behaviour with relation to
> division: they aren't closed wrt that operation.

This is a ridiculous over-generalisation.  There are areas of math which use
rationals, there are areas of math which only use integers ("discrete
math"), and there are areas of math which don't use numbers at all.  But
even in real-number arithmetic, (a-b)+b=a remains true, which is clearly not
the case for floating points.

Floating point calculations are useful for science or similar fields where
the input numbers are inexact measurements.  They are not mathematical.
Integer operations are.


--
Rainer Deyke (root at rainerdeyke.com)
Shareware computer games           -           http://rainerdeyke.com
"In ihren Reihen zu stehen heisst unter Feinden zu kaempfen" - Abigor
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