On Sun, 3 Jul 2005, Dennis Lee Bieber wrote: > On Sun, 3 Jul 2005 20:53:22 +0100, Tom Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > declaimed the following in comp.lang.python: > >> 2 >> -1 >> >> Evaluates to -1? > > But what do you expect, say > > 2 > -X > > to evaluate as? (-X)^2 or -(X^2) > > I'd expect the latter...
I think you've got me there. > I see the problem here as an assumption that "-1" is an entity in its > own right, and not an operation of negating a "1", whereas "-X" is the > entity "X" being negated. I think you're entirely correct. I'm not entirely sure that that assumption is wrong, but never mind. Anyway, it looks like i should really be filing a bug report with the International Mathematical Union about this, rather than whingeing about it here. tom -- A military-industrial illusion of democracy -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
