Re: precision on op:numeric-divide

Per Bothner <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.comp.web.query-languages
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Damien Fisher wrote:
> And should rational answers always be returned exactly, even
> if that requires an enormous amount of precision?

Many language implementations (including any for full Common Lisp)
do support exact rationals, and people seem to like that.  (They also
support floating-point.)

In the Lisp family, exact rationals are usually implemented and
printed as simplified fractions; but using repeating decimals might
be more useful.  E.g. op:numeric-divide(5, 3) could return a
decimal whose literal form might be "1._6_" where digits between
_ and _ are infinitely repeating.
-- 
	--Per Bothner
[email protected]   http://per.bothner.com/
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