Re: Plans for gnuplot version 5

[Tait <gnu...@t4...>]

Funny you should mention Python, because that was in fact going to be
_my_ example. Python continues to grow in popularity, and despite
earlier missteps, Python now treats "1/2" as 0.5, too. Python is also
an example of a language that does infinite-precision math (and is
surprisingly fast at it). The one remaining counter-example is that
ruby still treats "1/2" as 0, which surprised me.

As for my inspiration for the suggestion, users wander in and ask for
help with gnuplot several times a week. Of those, probably 40% are new
users. Of those, probably 30% are confused by the integer division
behavior. So the question gets asked -- usually in the form of why
some polynomial function gives the wrong answer -- once or twice a
week. That's obviously just anecdotal data, but if it's that
confusing to that many people, even despite prominent documentation
and FAQ on that exact issue, then it seemed like something worth
changing. (For what it's worth, the other FAQ asked frequently enough
to deserve such prominent display is the "x^2 isn't x squared" one.)


> I would like to question the general statement
> that "today's users don't understand integer
> arithmetic no more". Can you support that claim?
> 
> As counter-example, consider Python (as a contemporary,
> dynamically-typed language, popular with the current 
> "data" crowd), which is similarly finicky about integers 
> as gnuplot.