This is why I said the decision is ideological. We fundamentally disagree with
each other, on points of principle.
This also feels like it’s becoming antagonistic, perhaps through
misinterpreting each other, which was far from my intent. So I will limit my
reply to the only point of interpretation of my position.
Given that I personally consider this to be an ideological or project-axiomatic
decision, I therefore only consider other ideological or axiomatic facts to be
relevant to a decision like this. So:
1) By “where appropriate” I mean, for instance, that this project will likely
never support ANSI SQL in toto, by virtue of the fundamental nature of the
project.
2) I agree that which standard we choose to follow, and why we follow it, are
both relevant questions
> On 22 Nov 2018, at 11:56, Sylvain Lebresne <lebre...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 11:51 AM Benedict Elliott Smith <bened...@apache.org>
> wrote:
>
>> We’re not presently voting*; we’re only discussing, whether we should base
>> our behaviour on a widely agreed upon standard.
>>
>
> Well, you *explicitely* asked if people though we should do a vote, and I
> responded to that part. Let's not pretend I'm interpreting stuff, it's
> insulting.
>
>
>> I think perhaps the nub of our disagreement is that, in my view, this is
>> the only relevant fact to decide. There is no data to base this decision
>> upon. It’s axiomatic, or ideological; procedural, not technical: Do we
>> think we should try to hew to standards (where appropriate), or do we think
>> we should stick with what we arrived at in an adhoc manner?
>
>
> Yes, that is probably the nub of our disagreement. I disagree that hewing
> to standards is something we should agree on absolutely, with no other
> consideration in the balance. Hell, I read your "where appropriate" as an
> admission that you don't even truly think that. I think this is always a
> pros versus cons analysis. Adhering to standards is certainly a pro.
>
> *If* e were starting from scratch, I might maybe agree there isn't much
> "cons" in the balance (there is always _some_ consideration though;
> adhering to standard might force you into complexity that might not be
> justified; not saying it's our case here, just pointing again that I don't
> adhere to the absolutist view), making it an easy decision. So that I'm not
> sure we'd even need a vote to agree that "we should try to hew to standards
> (where appropriate)", even if we'd still want to discuss 1) if it is
> appropriate in that case and 2) which standard, so it wouldn't even be a
> "no data involved" decision.
>
> But we're not starting from scratch. You explicitly say yourself that it
> "extends to any features we have already released". So backward
> compatibility is a parameter we imo *must* take into account. Again,
> doesn't mean we don't end up breaking backward compatibility, just that it
> is a non negligible downside, so we better make sure the "pros" of adhering
> to a standard makes up for it.
>
> So yes, I do pretty strongly disagree that adhering to a standard is
> something that should be decided absolutely, with no other consideration
> taken into account.
>
>
>> and how meandering the discussion was with no clear consensus, it seemed
>> to need a vote in the near future.
>
>
> Fwiw, I also don't have the same read here. What I see on this thread is a
> bit of discussion on the specific cast issue you initially brought,
> discussion that didn't feel especially stuck to me, but I don't much on a
> larger discussion on adhering to standards for all our arithmetic before
> your suggestion a vote on it might be warranted.
>
> --
> Sylvain
>
>
>>> On 22 Nov 2018, at 09:26, Sylvain Lebresne <lebre...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm not saying "let's not do this no matter what and ever fix technical
>>> debt", nor am I fearing decision.
>>>
>>> But I *do* think decisions, technical ones at least, should be fact and
>>> data driven. And I'm not even sure why we're talking of having a vote
>> here.
>>> The Apache Way is *not* meant to be primarily vote-driven, votes are
>>> supposed to be a last resort when, after having debated facts and data,
>> no
>>> consensus can be reached. Can we have the debate on facts and data first?
>>> Please.
>>>
>>> At the of the day, I object to: "There are still a number of unresolved
>>> issues, but to make progress I wonder if it would first be helpful to
>> have
>>> a vote on ensuring we are ANSI SQL 92 compliant for our arithmetic?".
>> More
>>> specifically, I disagree that such vote is a good starting point. Let's
>>> identify and discuss the unresolved issues first. Let's check precisely
>>> what getting our arithmetic ANSI SQL 92 compliant means and how we can
>> get
>>> it. I do support the idea of making such analysis btw, it would be good
>>> data, but no vote is needed whatsoever to make it. Again, I object to
>>> voting first and doing the analysis 2nd.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sylvain
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 1:25 AM Jonathan Haddad <j...@jonhaddad.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I can’t agree more. We should be able to make changes in a manner that
>>>> improves the DB In the long term, rather than live with the technical
>> debt
>>>> of arbitrary decisions made by a handful of people.
>>>>
>>>> I also agree that putting a knob in place to let people migrate over is
>> a
>>>> reasonable decision.
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Nov 21, 2018 at 4:54 PM Benedict Elliott Smith <
>>>> bened...@apache.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The goal is simply to agree on a set of well-defined principles for how
>>>> we
>>>>> should behave. If we don’t like the implications that arise, we’ll
>> have
>>>>> another vote? A democracy cannot bind itself, so I never understood
>> this
>>>>> fear of a decision.
>>>>>
>>>>> A database also has a thousand toggles. If we absolutely need to, we
>> can
>>>>> introduce one more.
>>>>>
>>>>> We should be doing this upfront a great deal more often. Doing it
>>>>> retrospectively sucks, but in my opinion it's a bad reason to bind
>>>>> ourselves to whatever made it in.
>>>>>
>>>>> Do we anywhere define the principles of our current behaviour? I
>>>> couldn’t
>>>>> find it.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 21 Nov 2018, at 21:08, Sylvain Lebresne <lebre...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 20, 2018 at 5:02 PM Benedict Elliott Smith <
>>>>> bened...@apache.org>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> FWIW, my meaning of arithmetic in this context extends to any
>> features
>>>>> we
>>>>>>> have already released (such as aggregates, and perhaps other built-in
>>>>>>> functions) that operate on the same domain. We should be consistent,
>>>>> after
>>>>>>> all.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Whether or not we need to revisit any existing functionality we can
>>>>> figure
>>>>>>> out after the fact, once we have agreed what our behaviour should be.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not sure I correctly understand the process suggested, but I don't
>>>>>> particularly like/agree with what I understand. What I understand is a
>>>>>> suggestion for voting on agreeing to be ANSI SQL 92 compliant, with no
>>>>> real
>>>>>> evaluation of what that entails (at least I haven't seen one), and
>> that
>>>>>> this vote, if passed, would imply we'd then make any backward
>>>>> incompatible
>>>>>> change necessary to achieve compliance ("my meaning of arithmetic in
>>>> this
>>>>>> context extends to any features we have already released" and "Whether
>>>> or
>>>>>> not we need to revisit any existing functionality we can figure out
>>>> after
>>>>>> the fact, once we have agreed what our behaviour should be").
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This might make sense of a new product, but at our stage that seems
>>>>>> backward to me. I think we owe our users to first make the effort of
>>>>>> identifying what "inconsistencies" our existing arithmetic has[1] and
>>>>>> _then_ consider what options we have to fix those, with their pros and
>>>>> cons
>>>>>> (including how bad they break backward compatibility). And if _then_
>>>>>> getting ANSI SQL 92 compliant proves to not be disruptive (or at least
>>>>>> acceptably so), then sure, that's great.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [1]: one possibly efficient way to do that could actually be to
>> compare
>>>>> our
>>>>>> arithmetic to ANSI SQL 92. Not that all differences found would imply
>>>>>> inconsistencies/wrongness of our arithmetic, but still, it should be
>>>>>> helpful. And I guess my whole point is that we should that analysis
>>>>> first,
>>>>>> and then maybe decide that being ANSI SQL 92 is a reasonable option,
>>>> not
>>>>>> decide first and live with the consequences no matter what they are.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Sylvain
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I will make this more explicit for the vote, but just to clarify the
>>>>>>> intention so that we are all discussing the same thing.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 20 Nov 2018, at 14:18, Ariel Weisberg <adwei...@fastmail.fm>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> +1
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This is a public API so we will be much better off if we get it
>> right
>>>>>>> the first time.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Ariel
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Nov 16, 2018, at 10:36 AM, Jonathan Haddad <j...@jonhaddad.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Sounds good to me.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 16, 2018 at 5:09 AM Benedict Elliott Smith <
>>>>>>> bened...@apache.org>
>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> So, this thread somewhat petered out.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> There are still a number of unresolved issues, but to make
>>>> progress I
>>>>>>>>>> wonder if it would first be helpful to have a vote on ensuring we
>>>> are
>>>>>>> ANSI
>>>>>>>>>> SQL 92 compliant for our arithmetic? This seems like a sensible
>>>>>>> baseline,
>>>>>>>>>> since we will hopefully minimise surprise to operators this way.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> If people largely agree, I will call a vote, and we can pick up a
>>>>>>> couple
>>>>>>>>>> of more focused discussions afterwards on how we interpret the
>>>> leeway
>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>>>> gives.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On 12 Oct 2018, at 18:10, Ariel Weisberg <ar...@weisberg.ws>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> From reading the spec. Precision is always implementation
>> defined.
>>>>> The
>>>>>>>>>> spec specifies scale in several cases, but never precision for any
>>>>>>> type or
>>>>>>>>>> operation (addition/subtraction, multiplication, division).
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> So we don't implement anything remotely approaching precision and
>>>>>>> scale
>>>>>>>>>> in CQL when it comes to numbers I think? So we aren't going to
>>>> follow
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> spec for scale. We are already pretty far down that road so I
>> would
>>>>>>> leave
>>>>>>>>>> it alone.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I don't think the spec is asking for the most approximate type.
>>>> It's
>>>>>>>>>> just saying the result is approximate, and the precision is
>>>>>>> implementation
>>>>>>>>>> defined. We could return either float or double. I think if one of
>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> operands is a double we should return a double because clearly the
>>>>>>> schema
>>>>>>>>>> thought a double was required to represent that number. I would
>>>> also
>>>>>>> be in
>>>>>>>>>> favor of returning a double all the time so that people can expect
>>>> a
>>>>>>>>>> consistent type from expressions involving approximate numbers.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I am a big fan of widening for arithmetic expressions in a
>>>> database
>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>> avoid having to error on overflow. You can go to the trouble of
>>>> only
>>>>>>>>>> widening the minimum amount, but I think it's simpler if we always
>>>>>>> widen to
>>>>>>>>>> bigint and double. This would be something the spec allows.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Definitely if we can make overflow not occur we should and the
>>>> spec
>>>>>>>>>> allows that. We should also not return different types for the
>> same
>>>>>>> operand
>>>>>>>>>> types just to work around overflow if we detect we need more
>>>>> precision.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Ariel
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Oct 12, 2018, at 12:45 PM, Benedict Elliott Smith wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> If it’s in the SQL spec, I’m fairly convinced. Thanks for
>>>> digging
>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>>>>>> out (and Mike for getting some empirical examples).
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> We still have to decide on the approximate data type to return;
>>>>> right
>>>>>>>>>>>> now, we have float+bigint=double, but float+int=float. I think
>>>>> this
>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>>>> fairly inconsistent, and either the approximate type should
>>>> always
>>>>>>> win,
>>>>>>>>>>>> or we should always upgrade to double for mixed operands.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> The quoted spec also suggests that decimal+float=float, and
>>>> decimal
>>>>>>>>>>>> +double=double, whereas we currently have decimal+float=decimal,
>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>> decimal+double=decimal
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> If we’re going to go with an approximate operand implying an
>>>>>>>>>> approximate
>>>>>>>>>>>> result, I think we should do it consistently (and consistent
>> with
>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>> SQL92 spec), and have the type of the approximate operand always
>>>> be
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>> return type.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> This would still leave a decision for float+double, though. The
>>>>> most
>>>>>>>>>>>> consistent behaviour with that stated above would be to always
>>>> take
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>> most approximate type to return (i.e. float), but this would
>> seem
>>>>> to
>>>>>>> me
>>>>>>>>>>>> to be fairly unexpected for the user.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 12 Oct 2018, at 17:23, Ariel Weisberg <ar...@weisberg.ws>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I agree with what's been said about expectations regarding
>>>>>>> expressions
>>>>>>>>>> involving floating point numbers. I think that if one of the
>> inputs
>>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>> approximate then the result should be approximate.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> One thing we could look at for inspiration is the SQL spec. Not
>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>> follow dogmatically necessarily.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> From the SQL 92 spec regarding assignment
>>>>>>>>>> http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shadow/sql/sql1992.txt section
>>>>> 4.6:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> "
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Values of the data types NUMERIC, DECIMAL, INTEGER,
>>>> SMALLINT,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> FLOAT, REAL, and DOUBLE PRECISION are numbers and are all
>>>>>>>>>> mutually
>>>>>>>>>>>>> comparable and mutually assignable. If an assignment would
>>>>>>>>>> result
>>>>>>>>>>>>> in a loss of the most significant digits, an exception
>>>>>>> condition
>>>>>>>>>>>>> is raised. If least significant digits are lost,
>>>>>>> implementation-
>>>>>>>>>>>>> defined rounding or truncating occurs with no exception
>>>>>>>>>> condition
>>>>>>>>>>>>> being raised. The rules for arithmetic are generally
>>>> governed
>>>>>>> by
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Subclause 6.12, "<numeric value expression>".
>>>>>>>>>>>>> "
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Section 6.12 numeric value expressions:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> "
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1) If the data type of both operands of a dyadic arithmetic
>>>>>>>>>> opera-
>>>>>>>>>>>>> tor is exact numeric, then the data type of the result is
>>>>>>>>>> exact
>>>>>>>>>>>>> numeric, with precision and scale determined as follows:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2) If the data type of either operand of a dyadic arithmetic
>>>>>>> op-
>>>>>>>>>>>>> erator is approximate numeric, then the data type of the
>>>>> re-
>>>>>>>>>>>>> sult is approximate numeric. The precision of the result
>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>>>>> implementation-defined.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> "
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> And this makes sense to me. I think we should only return an
>>>> exact
>>>>>>>>>> result if both of the inputs are exact.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think we might want to look closely at the SQL spec and
>>>>> especially
>>>>>>>>>> when the spec requires an error to be generated. Those are
>>>> sometimes
>>>>>>> in the
>>>>>>>>>> spec to prevent subtle paths to wrong answers. Any time we deviate
>>>>>>> from the
>>>>>>>>>> spec we should be asking why is it in the spec and why are we
>>>>>>> deviating.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Another issue besides overflow handling is how we determine
>>>>>>> precision
>>>>>>>>>> and scale for expressions involving two exact types.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ariel
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Oct 12, 2018, at 11:51 AM, Michael Burman wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not sure if I would prefer the Postgres way of doing
>>>> things,
>>>>>>>>>> which is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> returning just about any type depending on the order of
>>>>> operators.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Considering it actually mentions in the docs that using
>>>>>>>>>> numeric/decimal is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> slow and also multiple times that floating points are inexact.
>>>> So
>>>>>>>>>> doing
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> some math with Postgres (9.6.5):
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2147483647::bigint*1.0::double precision returns double
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> precision 2147483647
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2147483647::bigint*1.0 returns numeric 2147483647.0
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2147483647::bigint*1.0::real returns double
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2147483647::double precision*1::bigint returns double
>>>>>>>>>> 2147483647
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2147483647::double precision*1.0::bigint returns double
>>>>>>>>>> 2147483647
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> With + - we can get the same amount of mixture of returned
>>>> types.
>>>>>>>>>> There's
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> no difference in those calculations, just some casting. To me
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> floating-point math indicates inexactness and has errors and
>>>>>>> whoever
>>>>>>>>>> mixes
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> up two different types should understand that. If one didn't
>>>> want
>>>>>>>>>> exact
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> numeric type, why would the server return such? The floating
>>>>> point
>>>>>>>>>> value
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> itself could be wrong already before the calculation - trying
>>>> to
>>>>>>> say
>>>>>>>>>> we do
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> it lossless is just wrong.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fun with 2.65:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2.65::real * 1::int returns double 2.65000009536743
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2.65::double precision * 1::int returns double 2.65
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT round(2.65) returns numeric 4
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT round(2.65::double precision) returns double 4
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2.65 * 1 returns double 2.65
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2.65 * 1::bigint returns numeric 2.65
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2.65 * 1.0 returns numeric 2.650
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT 2.65 * 1.0::double precision returns double 2.65
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT round(2.65) * 1 returns numeric 3
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SELECT round(2.65) * round(1) returns double 3
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So as we're going to have silly values in any case, why
>> pretend
>>>>>>>>>> something
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> else? Also, exact calculations are slow if we crunch large
>>>> amount
>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> numbers. I guess I slightly deviated towards Postgres'
>>>>> implemention
>>>>>>>>>> in this
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> case, but I wish it wasn't used as a benchmark in this case.
>>>> And
>>>>>>> most
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> importantly, I would definitely want the exact same type
>>>> returned
>>>>>>>>>> each time
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I do a calculation.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Micke
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Oct 12, 2018 at 4:29 PM Benedict Elliott Smith <
>>>>>>>>>> bened...@apache.org>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As far as I can tell we reached a relatively strong consensus
>>>>>>> that we
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> should implement lossless casts by default? Does anyone have
>>>>>>>>>> anything more
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to add?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Looking at the emails, everyone who participated and
>>>> expressed a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> preference was in favour of the “Postgres approach” of
>>>> upcasting
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>> decimal
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for mixed float/int operands?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I’d like to get a clear-cut decision on this, so we know what
>>>>>>> we’re
>>>>>>>>>> doing
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for 4.0. Then hopefully we can move on to a collective
>>>> decision
>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>>>> Ariel’s
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> concerns about overflow, which I think are also pressing -
>>>>>>>>>> particularly for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tinyint and smallint. This does also impact implicit casts
>>>> for
>>>>>>> mixed
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> integer type operations, but an approach for these will
>>>> probably
>>>>>>>>>> fall out
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> of any decision on overflow.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 3 Oct 2018, at 11:38, Murukesh Mohanan <
>>>>>>>>>> murukesh.moha...@gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think you're conflating two things here. There's the loss
>>>>>>>>>> resulting
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> from
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> using some operators, and loss involved in casting. Dividing
>>>> an
>>>>>>>>>> integer
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> by
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> another integer to obtain an integer result can result in
>>>> loss,
>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> there's
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> no implicit casting there and no loss due to casting.
>>>> Casting
>>>>> an
>>>>>>>>>> integer
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to a float can also result in loss. So dividing an integer
>>>> by a
>>>>>>>>>> float,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> example, with an implicit cast has an additional avenue for
>>>>> loss:
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> implicit cast for the operands so that they're of the same
>>>>> type.
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> believe
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> this discussion so far has been about the latter, not the
>>>> loss
>>>>>>> from
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> operations themselves.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Wed, 3 Oct 2018 at 18:35 Benjamin Lerer <
>>>>>>>>>> benjamin.le...@datastax.com>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I would like to try to clarify things a bit to help people
>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>> understand
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the true complexity of the problem.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The *float *and *double *types are inexact numeric types.
>>>> Not
>>>>>>> only
>>>>>>>>>> at
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> operation level.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you insert 676543.21 in a *float* column and then read
>>>> it,
>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>>>> will
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> realize that the value has been truncated to 676543.2.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you want accuracy the only way is to avoid those inexact
>>>>>>> types.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Using *decimals
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> *during operations will mitigate the problem but will not
>>>>> remove
>>>>>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I do not recall PostgreSQL behaving has described. If I am
>>>> not
>>>>>>>>>> mistaken
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PostgreSQL *SELECT 3/2* will return *1*. Which is similar
>> to
>>>>>>> what
>>>>>>>>>> MS SQL
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> server and Oracle do. So all thoses databases will lose
>>>>>>> precision
>>>>>>>>>> if you
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> are not carefull.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you truly need precision you can have it by using exact
>>>>>>> numeric
>>>>>>>>>> types
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for your data types. Of course it has a cost on
>> performance,
>>>>>>>>>> memory and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> disk usage.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The advantage of the current approach is that it give you
>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> choice.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> up to you to decide what you need for your application. It
>>>> is
>>>>>>> also
>>>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> line
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with the way CQL behave everywhere else.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Muru
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail:
>>>> dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Jon Haddad
>>>>>>>>> http://www.rustyrazorblade.com
>>>>>>>>> twitter: rustyrazorblade
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>> Jon Haddad
>>>> http://www.rustyrazorblade.com
>>>> twitter: rustyrazorblade
>>>>
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org
>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org
>>
>>
