[Python-3000] PEP 3101 suggested corrections

Jim Jewett jimjjewett at gmail.com
Mon Oct 29 00:51:48 CET 2007


On 10/28/07, Greg Ewing <greg.ewing at canterbury.ac.nz> wrote:
> Jim Jewett wrote:
> > Decimal doesn't mean "base 10", it means "has a decimal point"

> According to dictionary.com, it means

I see that I wasn't clear about this still being within the scope of
"To most people ..."

The dictionary gives a correct definition -- but realistically, that
definition is jargon, rather than the way most people I've talked to
actually use it.

When I asked my kids what they were studying in math, the answer was
sometimes "decimals" -- and this was always after plenty of work with
multiple-digit arithmetic, but years before they learned about
alternate bases.

-jJ


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