Re: Order of operations (was: Eigenvalues &/or eigenvectors,
Re: Order of operations (was: Eigenvalues &/or eigenvectors,
- Subject: Re: Order of operations (was: Eigenvalues &/or eigenvectors,
- From: email@hidden (Michael Sullivan)
- Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 15:28:57 -0400
- Organization: Business Card Express
email@hidden (Dennis W. Manasco) writes:
>
At 3:54 pm -0400 5/9/03, Michael Sullivan wrote:
>
>It's ridiculous to have the minus have a higher precedence than the
>
>power operator, because it just gets lost if the power is even.
>
>
>
x^2 is defined mathematically as (x) * (x)
>
x^3 is defined mathematically as (x) * (x) * (x)
>
x^4 is defined mathematically as (x) * (x) * (x) * (x)
>
x^5 is defined mathematically as (x) * (x) * (x) * (x) * (x)
>
>
3^2 = (3) * (3) = 9
>
3^3 = (3) * (3) * (3) = 27
>
3^4 = (3) * (3) * (3) * (3) = 81
>
3^5 = (3) * (3) * (3) * (3) * (3) = 243
>
-3^2 = (-3) * (-3) = 9
>
-3^3 = (-3) * (-3) * (-3) = -27
>
-3^4 = (-3) * (-3) * (-3) * (-3) = 81
>
-3^5 = (-3) * (-3) * (-3) * (-3) * (-3) = -243
>
I see nothing _ridiculous_ about producing an algebraically and
>
mathematically correct result. I would be very upset if the results I
>
received from a power function deviated from what I would calculate
>
with pencil and paper or a calculator.
With explicit numbers, I will concede that your interpretation is at
least as reasonable as mine (which would be that -3^2 is to be read as:
- (3)^2).
But not with variables.
If I write -x^2, I expect the result to be a *negative* number.
But applescript doesn't:
set foo to 3
-foo ^ 2
--> 9.0
Sorry, but that's just wrong.
Michael
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