> #in the Raku/Perl6 REPL > say 4 ** (1/2) 2 > say 8 ** (1/3) 2 > 4 ** (1/2) == 8 ** (1/3) True > say 8 ** (1/4) 1.681792830507429 > > say 9 ** (1/2) 3 > say 9 ** (1/3) 2.080083823051904 > say 9 ** (1/4) 1.7320508075688772 > $*VM moar (2020.06) >
Is the question whether Raku can somehow understand/represent square-roots and/or cube-roots? E.g. 8**(1/2) = 2√2 ? Otherwise, the results above seem reasonable. HTH, Bill. On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 10:28 AM Ralph Mellor <ralphdjmel...@gmail.com> wrote: > > You have several useful answers. > > I want to summarize what they saButy, and add a couple resources. > > * You probably meant 9 ** <1/2>. > Which will display 3. > But it's a Num. It's not the right type if you care about accuracy. > > * A solution to get rationals right is built into Raku. > See > https://medium.com/@raiph_mellor/fixed-point-is-still-an-approximation-727c6facdbff > But it won't work for `**` because it coerces to Num if the RHS is rational. > > * The full solution to getting math right is symbolic math. > For Raku that means https://github.com/raydiak/Math-Symbolic > Note that it includes features for roots. > Note that we would all love to hear it works for you for > equivalents of 9 ** <1/2> and/or 27 ** <1/3> > In particular, not that the result *seems* right, > but that it is the right type. (Int or Rat). > > Hth. > > On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 5:11 PM Tobias Boege <t...@taboege.de> wrote: > > > > On Thu, 09 Jul 2020, Aureliano Guedes wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > > > A quick question. > > > > > > This is expected? > > > > > > raku -e 'say 9 ** (1/3)' > > > 2.080083823051904 > > > > > > > > > Why do I'm asking this? > > > I know about the computational floating problem and I also know that the > > > Raku deal with rational whenever it is possible and store numbers as > > > expressions (actually I don't know if there are more details). That's why > > > 0.2 + 0.1 == 0.3 in Raku returns True whilst in other languages like > > > Python, Perl5, and Ruby return False. > > > > > > Then, I was just playing around and I'd like to check if it is expected. > > > > > > > I for one expected it. The equation 0.1 + 0.2 == 0.3 uses the Rat type in > > Raku, which stores rational numbers as exact fractions of numerator and > > denominator, avoiding the floating point inaccuracies you mention, and > > hence making equality comparisons trustworthy. > > > > The number 9 ** (1/3) is not rational and in general exponentiation with a > > fractional power might not produce a rational number, so exact > > representation > > via Rat is out of the question. Therefore Rakudo does the computation with > > Num, which are inexact floating point values again. > > > > Now, there are effective ways to represent algebraic numbers like 9 ** (1/3) > > in such a way that you can do arithmetic with them, but I'm not aware of any > > implementation of that available to Raku. For someone with enough tuits, > > I think this [1] can serve as a sort of high-level manual for creating such > > a module. In terms of ready-made non-Raku packages, I only know of CGAL [2], > > which provides a clean and even (template-)parametric interface to real > > algebraic numbers. In fact, I might have a try at NativeCall'ing it this > > evening. > > > > Best, > > Tobias > > > > [1] https://math.stackexchange.com/a/3144516 > > [2] https://www.cgal.org/ > > > > -- > > "There's an old saying: Don't change anything... ever!" -- Mr. Monk
