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- Subject: Re: metamethod __lt oddity?
- From: "Peter Hill" <corwin@...>
- Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 14:36:08 +0800
RLake@oxfam.org.uk:
> If a < b is not the same as b > a, then you probably shouldn't be using
> things that look like comparison operators.
That's probably true.
>In partial ordering, <= is often easier to implement. That's why.
Hmm, I think that the cause you state is right but the argument (for having
both "lt" and "le" definable together) is actually wrong.
It's not because sometimes "<=" is simpler to implement but rather that, in
a partial ordering, the default rule "a<=b" equals "not (b<a)" is just NOT
true (since in a partial order one can have elements which are neither
greater than, less than, nor equal to each other).
The correct definition would be:
a<b :=: (a<=b) and not (a==b)
where we define "==" as:
(a == b) :=: (a<=b) and (b<=a)
Lua doesn't define the default for "<" that way so we would have to overide
it manually to get a correct result for a partial order.
So, I guess I've answered my own original question as to why both "lt" and
"le" exist :-O, though I'm not sure I'm happy with the lack of neatness and
fudginess in the result :-(.
*cheers*
Peter Hill.