Re: Why do some math functions return -0

[bb <bblochl@...>]

Am 20.09.2010 18:21, schrieb David Kastrup:
> bb <bblochl@arcor.de> writes:
> 
>> I use a lot of different scripting languages (JavaScript, Python, Ch -
>> a C interpreter - and Lua) one more, the other less and compiled
>> languages as well. Because of that lengthy discussion "Why do some
>> math functions return -0" I actually checked the result of % of
>> different languages:
>>
>> JavaScript-C 1.8.0 pre-release 1 2009-02-16 : -7%-9 = -7, 9%-7 = 2, 7%-9 = 7
>>
>> Ch Standard edition, version 6.3.0.14091:  -7%-9 = -7, 9%-7 = 2, 7%-9 = 7
>>
>> java version "1.6.0_0" OpenJDK  Runtime Environment (build
>> 1.6.0_0-b11): -7%-9 = -7, 9%-7 = 2, 7%-9 = 7
>>
>> Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Jan 24 2010, 14:53:14) [GCC 4.3.2] on linux2
>> : -7%-9 = -2, 9%-7 = -5, 7%-9 = -2
>>
>> Lua 5.1.3 : -7%-9 = -2, 9%-7 = -5, 7%-9 = -2
>>
>> Obviously Lua and python use the expression
>> a - (n * math.floor(a/n))
>> for the calculation of the %-operator.
>>
>> The other languages obviously use another formula with a different
>> result, that equals to the other "C-like" languages.
>>
>> Concerning to some more studies in theat field I would no longer speak
>> of a "bug" but different interpretations in different languages.
> 
> I have yet to see any rationale for returning -0 for positive operands.
> 
>> Lua and Python define the sign of the result from the divisor.
>> JavaScript and Ch define the sign of the result from the dividend.
>>
>> There should be a strict math-definition of that modulo-operator,
> 
> Nonsense.  Mathematics does not use the % operator.  For "modulo", the
> definition is quite clear: numbers differing by whole multiples of the
> modulus are identical.  Quite a number of languages offer both a mod
> operator as well as a rem operator.  K&R C does not define _either_, but
> states that % should complement integer division.  If integer division
> rounds towards -inf, you get the mod operator as result, if it rounds
> towards 0, you get the rem operator.
> 
> That's rather insane, so ANSI C decided to define integer division with
> rounding towards 0.  One rationale being that it is confusing if
> -a%b is not the same as 0-a%b.
> 
>> GNU Octave, version 3.0.1: -7%-9 = -7, 9%-7 = 9, 7%-9 = 7
>>
>> Maxima 5.13.0 http://maxima.sourceforge.net Using Lisp GNU Common Lisp
>> (GCL) GCL 2.6.7 (aka GCL): mod(-7,-9) = -7, mod(9,-7) = -5, mod(7,-9)
>> = -2
> 
> gcl likely has both mod and rem as well.
> 
>> AXIOM Computer Algebra System Version: Axiom 3.9 (September 2005)
>> Timestamp: Monday December 3, 2007 at 18:21:59 : rem(-7,-9) = -7,
>> rem(9,-7) = 2, rem(7,-9) = 7
>>
>> Please tell me when you have found the truth of the %-operator!
> 
> Depends on its respective definition.  Math does not have a convention
> for "%".
> 

"DNFTT"

How can troll posts be recognised?
...
    * Pedantic in the Extreme - Many trolls' preparation is so thorough,
that while they waste time, they appear so ludicrous from the start that
they elicit sympathetic mail - the danger is that once the group takes
sides, the damage is done.
    * False Identity - Because they are cowards, trolls virtually never
write over their own name, and often reveal their trolliness (and lack
of imagination) in the chosen ID. As so many folk these days use false
ID, this is not a strong indicator on its own!
    * Off-topic posting - Often genuine errors, but, if from an
'outsider' they deserve matter-of-fact response; if genuine, a brief
apposite response is simply netiquette; if it's a troll post, you have
denied it its reward.
    * Repetition of a question or statement is either a troll - or a
pedant; either way, treatment as a troll is effective.
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cannot, if asked to justify their twaddle - so they develop a fine line
in missing the point.
    * Thick or Sad - Trolls are usually sad, lonely folk, with few
social skills; they rarely make what most people would consider
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with their IQ and feel the need to tell everyone. This is so frequent,
that it is diagnostic! Somewhere on the web there must be an
Intelligence Test for Trolls - rigged to always say "above 150"


Your Mail adress ...@gnu.com has absolutely nothing t do with the
GNU-movement.

Do you have some problems? Do not await help in the Web.

I argue that you are one of the many frustrated ossis in germany missing
the nice comunism behind the homely antisfashistic wall?

Regards BB

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