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

Guido van Rossum guido@digicool.com
Wed, 23 May 2001 09:32:17 -0400

[Mark]

IMO, The Python tutorial or other documentation should include a basic example of these "errors", and a link to either of the HTML pages referenced in this thread as an optional extra.

Just enough to stop most of the "this is a bug" posts - but stopping well short of any attempt to "educate" them in floating point madness. Just one example of floats not being exact would suffice.

I agree: we don't have to explain why it happens. We just have to explain that it happens, so so folks don't think they've discovered a bug in Python.

Or maybe we could do this: in the main text, explain and show that it happens, and refer to the appendix which can explain why it happens to those interested, in a gentle manner like what Tim already wrote.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)