Re: Numeric types, overhead and precision loss

[Ralph Hempel <rhempel@...>]

Gavin Wraith wrote:

> Ralph might be interested in looking at the sources for RiscLua, where
> arithmetic modulo 2^32 and bitwise operations are needed for system calls.
> The CPU (various ARMs) generally have no fp. Doubles are implemented with
> userdata.

I might indeed! I am currently following the basic principle of

  "Make it work, then make it fast"

I added bitwise operations with explicit functions like band(), bor()
etc, but I've looked at the integer patch for ideas too.

One of my main goals is to use as much 5.1.x source unaltered. The
reason for this is my experience with Forth. By the end of its useful
life, Forth had so many variants that the idea of portability
went right out the window.

I can live with having one API vs another, but when fundamental
language implementation differs too much between variants, the
result can be that the user base is spread so thin that the language
simply dies.

I will, however, go over the RiscLua source to see if there are
some ideas I can use, specifically with respect to userdata and the
alternative number type.

Cheers, Ralph