Mark Dickinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> On Feb 10, 3:29 pm, Grant Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > platform does". Except it doesn't in cases like this. All my
> > platforms do exactly what I want for division by zero: they
> > generate a properly signed INF. Python chooses to override
> > that (IMO correct) platform behavior with something surprising.
> > Python doesn't generate exceptions for other floating point
> > "events" -- why the inconsistency with divide by zero?
>
> But not everyone wants 1./0. to produce an infinity; some people
> would prefer an exception.
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
Most people would not want this behaviour either::
>>> 0.1
0.10000000000000001
But the justification for this violation of surprise is "Python just
does whatever the underlying hardware does with floating-point
numbers". If that's the rule, it shouldn't be broken in the special
case of division by zero.
--
\ “If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always |
`\ together, who would escape hanging?” —Mark Twain, _Following |
_o__) the Equator_ |
Ben Finney
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