From ... Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!ossa.telenet-ops.be!nmaster.kpnqwest.net!nreader2.kpnqwest.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Subject: Re: Lisp Programmers in X Months References: <3CB0B7C6.50701@yahoo.com> <874rin9n10.fsf@nkapi.internal> <3CB1D61C.4070104@yahoo.com> <=vGxPITJODE6F3WVaY+470h+hO8J@4ax.com> Mail-Copies-To: never From: Erik Naggum Message-ID: <3227330576163731@naggum.net> Organization: Naggum Software, Oslo, Norway Lines: 21 User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 08:42:39 GMT X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@KPNQwest.no X-Trace: nreader2.kpnqwest.net 1018341759 193.71.199.50 (Tue, 09 Apr 2002 10:42:39 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 10:42:39 MET DST Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.lisp:31291 * Bruce Hoult | There are no errors or rounding techniques needed. Integer arithmetic | using IEEE FP is exact. What nonsense! You have only so many bits of precision. When a result (eventually) needs more than that, instead of losing the most significant bits, as in C-style "integer" arithmetic, you lose the least significant bits, which generally goes undetected. | Financial arithmetic in the real world is not defined using rationals. | It is defined using decimal numbers with a fixed number of decimal | places. Which is a rational. /// -- In a fight against something, the fight has value, victory has none. In a fight for something, the fight is a loss, victory merely relief. Post with compassion: http://home.chello.no/~xyzzy/kitten.jpg