On 2/22/2011 2:42 PM, Grant Edwards wrote:
Except that Python (and computer languages in general) don't deal with real numbers. They deal with floating point numbers, which aren't the same thing. [In case anybody is still fuzzy about that.]
In particular, floats are a fixed finite set of rationals with adjusted definitions of the arithmetic operators. The adjustment is necessary because the 'proper' answer to an operation may not be one of the allowed answers. In other words, f1 float-op f2 may not be the same as f1 rat-op f2, and hence float-ops do not always obey the rules of rational (or real) operations.
-- Terry Jan Reedy -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
