[Python-Dev] FP vs. tutorial (original) (raw)

Michel Pelletier michel@digicool.com
Tue, 22 May 2001 14:44:09 -0700 (PDT)

On Tue, 22 May 2001, Tim Peters wrote:

Michel Pelletier, on [http://www.lahey.com/float.htm] > I liked the tone too, but it really goes into a lot of detail, there's > this problem, and that one, oh and also this one and then there's > that and the other thing, and after a while you get the impression > that floating-point is for the insane.

Using an unfamiliar power tool with sharp edges, and while blindfolded, is insane.

I should have been more clear, I liked the first couple of paragraphs for their descriptions, and there is certainly nothing wrong with the document as it stands, but such an explanation would be a bit too lengthly and boring to a typical fifth grader or photoshop guru going through the Tutorial and dabbling in programming for the very first time.

and on [http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/RepresentationError]

> I agree. Equations should not be needed to explain this. There's exactly one equation on that page, saying that one ratio of two integers is approximately equal to another ratio of two integers.

Who was it that said every equation will halve your audience? I agree with that, the tutorial should try to be as broad and simple as possible.

If that's too much for you, and you weren't satisfied with the initial hand-wavy explanation ("1/10 is not exactly representable as a binary fraction") either, then it's up to you to do better than the latter without actually saying anything useful :

The latter is fine, although I think the first document hand-waves better.

-Michel