[Matrix-SIG] Numeric Nits

[Ivan Frohne]

Of course an integer division operation should exist, but it should not
be the one associated with the general division operator.

Fortran, and other strongly typed languages, may safely utilize a
general division operator.  If J and K are Fortran integers, then
so is J / K.  But in Python, who knows what type J and K are?
You may intend them to be integers, but if the previous
assignment to J was, for example, J = math.sqrt(100), J is now
a double.  If you want to be sure that J / K is an integer, you must
use int(J) / int(K).  Or, if you don't want 1 / 2 == 0, use
float(J) / float(K).  

In Python, the general division operator is unsafe.  But to require
a different division operator for every numerical type (integer, float
and complex) would be inconvenient.  And maybe convenience ranks
higher than safety.  That's above my pay grade.

--Ivan Frohne