Hello Scott, In C++ we have a saying for value types, such as complex numbers: "Do as the ints do". The complex class in C++ is also immutable. I have never seen a need for mutable numeric, scalar quantities since I began scientific programming 30 years ago. Just a perspective.
Friday, March 17, 2006, 5:23:08 PM, you wrote: SDD> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> Instead of having my geometric objects of the complex plane *be* complex >> numbes, >> there is certainly the solution of having a complex number as an attribute >> of these objects - >> and then I can take more your approach, and at the speed of C, since I would >> then >> be using the built-in for arithmettic operations. >> >> There remained something unsatisfying to me about that approach. >> >> Until something blows up about my current approach, I am quite happy with >> it. SDD> The thing that typically blows up is when you are (for example) SDD> computing with a complex number that is changed halfway through SDD> the computation by another thread (say a mouse drag). The square SDD> root winds up being neither the square root of the original number SDD> nor of the new changed number. Further, it becomes dicey to SDD> try to prove that your square root function will always terminate SDD> (a step size from one that is guaranteed to settle might be a SDD> disaster at the new-improved value. SDD> So, that's why CS people like immutable primitive types. SDD> -- Scott David Daniels SDD> [EMAIL PROTECTED] SDD> _______________________________________________ SDD> Edu-sig mailing list SDD> [email protected] SDD> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig -- Best regards, Chuck _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
