Michael Lazzaro wrote:
>
Does someone from internals want to take on the task of finalizing this list? We need to decide if we want to support none, some, or all of these types/aliases.
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The Full List of Numeric Types
In addition to the standard int and num, there are a great number of other numeric types available. If your program makes use of code written in other languages, such as C, C++, Java, C#, etc., or if you want your program to make use of low-level system or library calls, you will frequently need to use more exact types that correspond to what the other language expects to see. You might also wish to use the more specific primitive types when you can guarantee certain bounds restrictions on numbers, and simply want to squeeze every unnecessary byte out of the generated code.
> [ very long list snipped]
I still don't understand why we want to go to all this hassle of
completing a vast list primitives to support mappings onto languages and architectures that have yet to be invented. I still prefer to keep things simple:
my Number $a is ctype("unsigned long int") = 42;
my Number $b is ctype("my_int32") = 42;
The definition of this type depends on the system you're running on. If you require a specific range, independent on compiler/architecture: then primitive types is the wrong mechanism:
my Integer $a is range(0..16:ffffffff) = 42;
my Real $b is range(0..^1;0.001) = rand; # correct syntax?
my String $x is null_terminated is ctype(const char *) = "hello";
You can rename the types if you want; but properties are a better representation of constraints than type names: more precise, and more flexible.
Dave.
