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: Michael Kelly <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 13:16:45 -0700
- Mail-followup-to: AppleScript-Users <email@hidden>
On Fri, May 16, 2003 at 04:34:50PM +0100, Nigel Smith wrote:
>
the algebraic negative (which is usually thought of as being
>
equivalent to "multiply by -1", not "subtract from 0" as some others
>
have stated).
I may be way off-base here, but isn't it defined as "subtract from 0" to
avoid using one negative number to define another? (i.e., what then is
-1?)
>
You guys make it clear that this is the case on page 179 of the ASLG, you
>
make it clear in compiled code by the spacing ("-2 ^ 2" and not "- 2^2")
>
and, as other messages in this thread have shown, it is more "natural" to
>
think of it that way if you don't remember your orders of precedence from
>
school days -- a big plus in a "natural language".
>
>
AppleScript ain't algebra and, to be totally honest, I'd rather AS
>
development time be spent on almost anything else than "fixing" this...
The problem is that there are no rules about what is "right" in a
"natural language". Naturality is totally subjective, and therefore
what's natural to one person may be counterintuitive for others. In my
opinion, it's better to adopt the idea that, if it looks like just
algebra, it should act just like algebra. Is that not natural? Algebra
has rules about precedence, but natural languages don't, because they're
"natural", and that means nothing more than "whatever makes sense in the
mind of the language's creator(s)".
--
Michael
email@hidden
http://www.jedimike.net
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