Re: Why is there no 'math.round'?

[Mark Hamburg <mark_hamburg@...>]

On Apr 23, 2008, at 5:58 AM, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo wrote:

> > That's hardly an excuse for not having a round function.
>
> No excuses are needed. Lua's philosophy is minimalist. Since Lua  
> libraries
> are easily extended either in C or in Lua, you can simply add a  
> math.round
> function that suits you.

I have long appreciated Lua's minimalist philosophy. What I think a  
lot of the community is looking for, however, are standards about how  
to extend if it is going to be extended.

In adding a rounding function, there's a disincentive to add it to  
math itself because the Lua distribution conceptually controls that  
namespace. So one adds mymath.round. (Lightroom has  
AgMathUtils.round.) But then everyone goes off and re-invents this and  
when one wants to share code we run into problems.

I think defining a standard set of extensions to Lua for use in  
particular environments would be a valuable enhancement to the  
distribution. It's a process the community has tried to undertake but  
without a formal process, it's hard to reach a conclusion.

Mark