Factorial, p175
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"Note that 1000 factorial is really calculated which in many other languages can be quite difficult to compute. This is an excellent example of automatic coercion and exact handling of a number."
I think what's trying to be said here is that--no, I don't get the first sentence at all. In what language is it difficult to compute a factorial? I guess a lot don't have built-in functions but--I feel like I'm missing the point.
Then I think, maybe the point is you would have to do the coercion and "exact handling" of the number, as indicated in the next sentence, and that's what's meant by that. But the beginning reader isn't going to know what that means.
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Hello
We will rephrase the sentence. The point is that 1000 factorial more than a single integer. Did you check its number of digits? Stef On Oct 9, 2013, at 12:11 AM, blake <[hidden email]> wrote: > "Note that 1000 factorial is really calculated which in many other languages can be quite difficult to compute. This is an excellent example of automatic coercion and exact handling of a number." > > I think what's trying to be said here is that--no, I don't get the first sentence at all. In what language is it difficult to compute a factorial? I guess a lot don't have built-in functions but--I feel like I'm missing the point. > > Then I think, maybe the point is you would have to do the coercion and "exact handling" of the number, as indicated in the next sentence, and that's what's meant by that. But the beginning reader isn't going to know what that means. > _______________________________________________ > Sbe-discussion mailing list > [hidden email] > https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing list [hidden email] https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion |
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Oh, it's huge. And it prints out instantly. :-) (Though I did notice it printed out instantly when I ran the equivalents in Python and Ruby, too.) I remember wrestling with this problem in the '90s: How do you make a number that sizes itself according to its contents? So I can be impressed.
But if I'm a novice or someone who's used to working in dynamic languages, I'm not going to understand, I don't think, why I should be impressed. On Tue, Oct 8, 2013 at 10:06 PM, stephane ducasse <[hidden email]> wrote: Hello _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing list [hidden email] https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion |
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In reply to this post by blake watson
On 8 Oct 2013, at 15:11, blake wrote: in many other languages Possibly, change this to : ... in languages like C++ and Java ... Andrew _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing list [hidden email] https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion |
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In reply to this post by blake watson
blake wrote:
That is a good point. A description of the typical problem would be useful.Oh, it's huge. And it prints out instantly. :-) (Though I did notice it printed out instantly when I ran the equivalents in Python and Ruby, too.) I remember wrestling with this problem in the '90s: How do you make a number that sizes itself according to its contents? So I can be impressed. But if I'm a novice or someone who's used to working in dynamic languages, I'm not going to understand, I don't think, why I should be impressed. Blake, Do you want to have a go at it ? :) Thanks very much for your feedback, but in case it can interest you have you seen... http://blog.openinworld.com/2012/05/contributing-to-pbe/ cheers -ben On Tue, Oct 8, 2013 at 10:06 PM, stephane ducasse [hidden email]wrote:Hello We will rephrase the sentence. The point is that 1000 factorial more than a single integer. Did you check its number of digits? Stef On Oct 9, 2013, at 12:11 AM, blake [hidden email] wrote: _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing list [hidden email] https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion |
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That's very helpful! I, of course, have "notes": 1. I'm impressed you got this working under Windows. When people say "cygwin" to me my eyes glaze over. 2. I don't think you gain anything by obfuscating "[hidden email]". ;-) -->git clone git [at] github [dot] com:bencoman/PharoByExample-english.git
3. You might want to point the user to any informational messages that appear at the end of the LaTeX install. It's a long install (as you note) so it's easy to miss the bits about adding to your various PATHs.
On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 6:38 PM, <[hidden email]> wrote:
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blake wrote:
Thanks. It was interesting to do, a nice sense of achievement, and I discovered something new - using both git and cywin for the first time.That's very helpful! I, of course, have "notes": 1. I'm impressed you got this working under Windows. When people say "cygwin" to me my eyes glaze over. I agree but its just standard behavior of one of the Wordpress plugins.2. I don't think you gain anything by obfuscating [hidden email]. ;-) -->git clone git [at] github [dot] com:bencoman/PharoByExample-english.git I haven't referred to the post for a long time. If you've got that information handy could you add it as a comment to the post.3. You might want to point the user to any informational messages that appear at the end of the LaTeX install. It's a long install (as you note) so it's easy to miss the bits about adding to your various PATHs. On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 6:38 PM, [hidden email] wrote:** blake wrote: Oh, it's huge. And it prints out instantly. :-) (Though I did notice it printed out instantly when I ran the equivalents in Python and Ruby, too.) I remember wrestling with this problem in the '90s: How do you make a number that sizes itself according to its contents? So I can be impressed. But if I'm a novice or someone who's used to working in dynamic languages, I'm not going to understand, I don't think, why I should be impressed. That is a good point. A description of the typical problem would be useful. Blake, Do you want to have a go at it ? :) Thanks very much for your feedback, but in case it can interest you have you seen... http://blog.openinworld.com/2012/05/contributing-to-pbe/ cheers -ben On Tue, Oct 8, 2013 at 10:06 PM, stephane ducasse[hidden email] [hidden email]wrote: Hello We will rephrase the sentence. The point is that 1000 factorial more than a single integer. Did you check its number of digits? Stef On Oct 9, 2013, at 12:11 AM, blake [hidden email] [hidden email] wrote: "Note that 1000 factorial is really calculated which in many other languages can be quite difficult to compute. This is an excellent example of automatic coercion and exact handling of a number." I think what's trying to be said here is that--no, I don't get the first sentence at all. In what language is it difficult to compute a factorial? I guess a lot don't have built-in functions but--I feel like I'm missing the point. Then I think, maybe the point is you would have to do the coercion and "exact handling" of the number, as indicated in the next sentence, and that's what's meant by that. But the beginning reader isn't going to know what that means. _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing [hidden email] _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing [hidden email] ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing [hidden email] _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing list [hidden email] https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion _______________________________________________ Sbe-discussion mailing list [hidden email] https://www.iam.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/sbe-discussion |
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