In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Steven D'Aprano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: |> > |> > Some of the algebraic languages. (2/3)^(1/5) is held as such and |> > manipulated appropriately. |> > |> > Yes, I know that's "cheating" :-) |> |> I see your smiley, and I still don't understand. Why on earth would you |> call it cheating for a language to have a data type that is suitable for |> the data being used? Maybe it's a form of humour I don't get -- like |> pointing at a car and saying "Look, a cow!".
Oh, because it's not a proper data type! The data type is an expression, and is held in a structured form, of which such powers may be one level. This is better regarded as an optimisation of a common case than a true data type. Now, there MAY be such a language that supports such things as a proper data type, but I don't know of one. Regards, Nick Maclaren. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
