From: dvdeug@x8b4e53cd.dhcp.okstate.edu (David Starner)
Subject: Re: Function name problem
Date: 2000/01/16
Date: 2000-01-16T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <85tc4u$8q61@news.cis.okstate.edu> (raw)
In-Reply-To: N7qg4.18$4R4.1827@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net
On Sun, 16 Jan 2000 20:47:41 GMT, David C. Hoos, Sr. <david.c.hoos.sr@ada95.com> wrote:
>
>David Starner <dvdeug@x8b4e53cd.dhcp.okstate.edu> wrote in message
>news:85stib$a2g1@news.cis.okstate.edu...
>> it. If I could use Unicode in writing programs, I can see a few places
>> where mathematical symbols would make nice operators, but still,
>> a {dot symbol} b and a {cross symbol} b aren't superior enough to
>> Dot(a,b) and Cross (a, b) to make the precidence and readibility
>> problems worth it.
>Beside which, the parameter/return type profiles of dot product and
>cross product are unique, so you can just use the "*" operator
>for these.
I wouldn't. Target typing is a feature that's prone to abuse, and
overloading * for the dot product _and_ the cross product seems
like it could cause confusion. a := b * c; would mean dramatically
different things based on whether a was vector or scalar.
(Target typing is something unnerved me when coming from C++, because
it seems wrong not to be able to decide the type of an expression
without the context. I now understand why it's much more necessary in
Ada than C++ or Modula-3, because of the variety of distinct builtin
types in Ada and lack of conversions, but it's still not one of my
favorite features.)
--
David Starner - dstarner98@aasaa.ofe.org
If you wish to strive for peace of soul then believe;
if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2000-01-16 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 19+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2000-01-15 0:00 Function name problem Harald Schmidt
2000-01-15 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
2000-01-15 0:00 ` Jeff Carter
2000-01-16 0:00 ` Harald Schmidt
2000-01-16 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
2000-01-16 0:00 ` Harald Schmidt
2000-01-16 0:00 ` Gautier
2000-01-17 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
2000-01-26 0:00 ` Florian Weimer
2000-01-16 0:00 ` David Starner
2000-01-16 0:00 ` David C. Hoos, Sr.
2000-01-16 0:00 ` David Starner [this message]
2000-01-18 0:00 ` Howard W. LUDWIG
2000-01-16 0:00 ` David A. Cobb
2000-01-16 0:00 ` David Starner
2000-01-17 0:00 ` David A. Cobb
2000-01-17 0:00 ` David Starner
2000-01-17 0:00 ` Jeff Carter
2000-01-15 0:00 ` Pascal Obry
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