Re: Plans for gnuplot version 5

[Philipp K. J. <ja...@ie...>]

On Thu, 17 Apr 2014 05:49:05 +0000
Tait <gnu...@t4...> wrote:

> 
> 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.

Fair enough.

And I will admit that the 1/2==0 problem bites
me as well, occasionally. ;-)

> 
> 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.
> 
> 
> 
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