Integer division, surprising results

[Steve]

Rory Geoghegan wrote:
>>I've looked at faqs and documentation, and nothing jumped out at me. Can
>>anyone explain the reasoning for this?
> 
> 
> According to my math book integer division is defined as such:
> a/b = q, where a = b*q + r and r is the remainder.
> 
> A remainder (ei a modulo) is always positive, effectively flooring all
> the division operations.

Remainders are always positive, but modulo can be 
defined as either positive or negative (for negative 
arguments). There are pros and cons for doing it either 
way, although the Python way seems to have more pros 
than cons.


-- 
Steven D'Aprano