[Python-Dev] Rounding Decimals (original) (raw)

Leif Walsh adlaiff6 at gmail.com
Mon Jan 14 01:37:46 CET 2008

On Jan 13, 2008 7:26 PM, Jeffrey Yasskin <jyasskin at gmail.com> wrote:

Guido mentioned the possibility briefly at http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-3000/2007-April/007015.html ("One could argue that float and Decimal are <:Q, but I'm not sure if that makes things better pragmatically") but never really discussed as far as I can find (although I did think about it :).

Well, if nothing else, I'm certainly satisfied that my concerns about accuracy are being addressed. I will have to go read more of that discussion.

I prefer having float not implement Rational (Decimal's off the table) because developers usually think of them as approximations to arbitrary, possibly-irrational, real numbers, rather than as rational numbers with some odd constraints on their denominators. That is, to me, the ABCs a type implements are more about how developers should think about the type than the implementation of the type.

I see where you're coming from. My personal stance is that developers shouldn't think that way, but I know that's an unpopular opinion, and isn't really worth discussion here.

[ A new thread is probably appropriate if anyone wants to discuss the philosophy, but I probably won't participate... ]

I don't feel any pressing need to continue this here and now.

Thanks!

-- Cheers, Leif

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