How about adding rational fraction to Python?

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:08:29 -0800, Paul Rubin wrote:

> Steven D'Aprano <steve at REMOVE-THIS-cybersource.com.au> writes:
>> When it comes to mixed arithmetic, it's just too darn inconvenient to
>> forbid automatic conversions. Otherwise you end up either forbidding
>> things like 1 + 1.0 on the basis that it isn't clear whether the
>> programmer wants an int result or a float result,
> 
> You can parse 1 as either an integer or a floating 1, so 1 + 1.0 can be
> correctly typed as a float.  However (for example), len(x) is always an
> int so len(x) + 1.0 would be forbidden.

Okay, that's just insane, making distinctions between literals and 
variables like that.

1 + 1.0  # okay

x = 1
x + 1.0  # is this okay or not? who knows?

len('s') + 1.0  # forbidden


I am so glad you're not the designer of Python.




>> or else even more complex rules ("if the left operator is an int, and
>> the result of the addition has a zero floating-point part, then the
>> result is an int,
> 
> That is ugly and unnecessary.

Which was my point.



-- 
Steven