OpenEuphoria

Re: Proposal for 'math.e' (2007-08-23)

• Posted by Derek Parnell <ddparnell at ?igp?nd.com> Aug 24, 2007
• 703 views

Jules wrote:
> 
> > Routines for sets should be in a separate include file, not in "math.e".
> > 
> > Regards,
> >    Juergen
> 
> I'm not going to make a big fuss about it, but why? sets are the foundation
> of all mathematical systems, underlying all functions, relations, and logic.

That they may be, but the file will contain set OPERATIONS, and they are not
commonly used. In other words, just because sets are the basis of mathematically
systems it doesn't follow that therefore set operations are used all the time.


> Any decent maths text book will start with sets, then go on to basic functions
> etc.
> IMO relegating them to a separate include file will give the them the status
> of a 'specialist' topic, (like matrices, statistics, etc) whereas in fact they
> are the basis from which all other disciplines are derived.

In the same way that petrol (gas) is the basis of my car's internal combustion
engine but it doesn't mean that I do 'petrol' operations when selecting a
different radio station.

If I need to find the cube root of something I don't use set theory or practice;
I call the power() function. In fact, I can't recall the last time I needed a set
function for any maths in my programs.

-- 
Derek Parnell
Melbourne, Australia
Skype name: derek.j.parnell