[Python-Dev] trunc() (original) (raw)

Leif Walsh adlaiff6 at gmail.com
Fri Jan 25 19:22:14 CET 2008

On Jan 25, 2008 12:45 PM, Facundo Batista <facundobatista at gmail.com> wrote:

Mmm... no. int() is a builtin way to transform the builtin data type float into the builtin data type float [sic].

There's no "correct" way for a float to become an integer, but in the math module you have several ways to do it (floor, ceil, round, trunc, choose the one that you want, but you're "notified" <wink/2> that there're different ways to do it).

In keeping with this theme, why not define int() for floats (and other real types) as

def int(n, method=math.trunc)

or something similar, so that, by default, int() provides the same functionality as before (or whatever is decided to be preferred, I'm making no judgements on that end), but has a way --- by passing a different function --- of changing the way it rounds? The other (probably preferred) option, I suppose, would be to provide a few constants (float.FLOOR_METHOD et al.) instead of passing an arbitrary function (which, of course, makes me a bit uncomfortable).

-- Cheers, Leif

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