Hi! On Aug 24, 2:59 am, Carl Witty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > We can just use cmp(), if we want. Python lets you define < and cmp() > separately, so we could leave cmp() total and still make < partial.
What would a typical Sage user expect if s/he types "a<b" on the command line? I guess the expected interpretation of "<" is the mathematical one -- hence, if there is no common parent of a and b or if that common parent is not an ordered algebraic structure then the user may be unhappy if no TypeError or ArithmeticError is raised. On the other hand, in programming one sometimes needs a total order and can ignore algebra (e.g., sorting). Therefore, Carl's proposal seems reasonable to me. It takes into account both requirements. Cheers Simon --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
