On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 06:07:15 +0000, Rhamphoryncus wrote: > On Sep 30, 7:35 pm, andresj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I was doing some programming in Python, and the idea came to my mind: >> using fractions instead of floats when doing 2/5. > > The core problem with rationals (other than the inability to handle > irrationals)
If that's a problem, it is one shared by ints and floats. > is their tendency to require more and more memory as > calculations progress. This means they get mysteriously slower and > slower. > > http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-October/166630.html I've read that thread, and although I see the claim made that rationals are slow, I don't see the claim that they get "mysteriously" slower as calculations progress. (And if they did, it would hardly be a mystery if we know it is because they use more memory.) I guess that could occur with unlimited precision rationals, in the same way that it could occur with ever-larger longints, but I don't see how it could occur with a simpler, limited precision implementation. -- Steven. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
