Re: Thinking about MINUS

From: Bob Badour <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca>
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:26:52 GMT
Message-ID: <gUSoh.42784$cz.626440@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>

Gene Wirchenko wrote:

> Bob Badour <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
> [snip]
> 

>>Unless we make one up, we have no + operation that operates on numbers
>>and strings. Similarly, we have no < comparison that operates on numbers
>>and strings. However, the equality comparison operates on any two values
>>(unless we go out of our way to redefine it otherwise.)
>>
>>Semantically, it makes no sense to say "This orange is less than that

> 
> 
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 

>>apple"; however, it makes perfect sense to say "This orange is not that

> 
>  ^^^^^^
>      I would substitute 'Similarly, it makes no sense to say "This
> orange is less than that apple", unless we have defined a less than
> operator.'  For example, the comparison might be of weight or of cost.

But then the question becomes: "Is this weight less than that weight?" and "Is this cost less than that cost?" which are completely different questions.

>>apple". If someone asks "Is this orange less than that apple?", we have
>>a question we can parse but neither interpret nor answer. If someone
>>asks "Is this orange that apple?", we have a question we can parse,
>>interpret and answer correctly: "No, it is not."
>
> [snip]

If we compare the weight of the orange to the weight of the apple asking "Are these weights the same?", the answer might be "Yes, they are."

>>Agreed. In fact, if I recall correctly, someone once determined that the
>>lint warning for unused local variables correlated more with bugs than
>>any other warning or error message. Of course, that might be urban
>>legend. (I am relying solely on a ~20 year old memory, and I doubt I
>>read the original work.)

> 
>      It does take some doing to declare a variable and never use it.
> The reverse is more common, but it gets flagged by many compilers.
> 
> [snip]

If one turns on full warnings, many compilers will flag both.

>>If you have not read it yet, I highly recommend this recent essay by
>>Hugh Darwen:
>>http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~hugh/TTM/HAVING-A-Blunderful-Time.html

> 
> 
>      Thank you.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> 

>>A bit of meat, cheese and a cracker might prove more effective without
>>the alcohol. A bit of fruit and a slice of ham should do the trick too.
>
> It is getting a bit late for holiday leftovers.

My condolences to everyone living Irma Rombauer's eternity: "Two people and a ham."

It occurs to me a glass of warm milk might provide an appropriate mix of carbs and protein too. Received on Tue Jan 09 2007 - 14:26:52 CST