int/long unification hides bugs

[Steve Holden]

kartik wrote:

> "Terry Reedy" <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote in message news:<mailman.5480.1098763791.5135.python-list at python.org>...
> 
>>"kartik" <kartick_vaddadi at yahoo.com> wrote in message 
>>news:940ee3e8.0410251927.38347d92 at posting.google.com...
>>
>>>1)catching overflow bugs in the language itself frees u from writing
>>>overflow tests.
>>
>>It is a fundamental characteristic of counts and integers that adding 1 is 
>>always valid.  Given that, raising an overflow exception is itself a bug, 
>>one that Python had and has now eliminated.
>>
>>If one wishes to work with residue classes mod n, +1 is also still always 
>>valid.  It is just that (n-1) + 1 is 0 instead of n.  So again, raising an 
>>overflow error is a bug.
> 
> 
> i don't care what mathematical properties are satisfied; what matters
> is to what extent the type system helps me in writing bug-free code
> 
... and the point most of your respondents are trying to make is that an 
arbitrary restriction - ANY arbitrary restriction - on the upper limit 
of integers is unhelpful, and that's precisely why it's been removed 
from the language.

> 
>>[...]However, the limit n could be 
>>anything, so fixing it at, say, 2**31 - 1 is almost always useless.
> 
> 
> i dont think so. if it catches bugs that cause numbers to increase
> beyond 2**31, that's valuable.
> 
But only if an increase beyond 2**31 IS a bug, which for many problem 
domains it isn't. Usually the required upper limit is either above or 
below 2**31, which is why that limit (or 2**63, or 2**7) is useless and 
unhelpful.

>>The use of fixed range ints is a space-time machine performance hack that 
>>has been costly in human thought time.
> 
> 
> on what basis do u say that
> 
A few more years' programming experience will teach you the truth of 
this assertion. It appears that no amount of good advice will change 
your opinion in the meantime.

regards
  Steve
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