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Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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On Mar 1, 7:04 am, Kaz Kylheku <k...@kylheku.com> wrote:
 lisp:
 (floor (/ x y)) --[rewrite]--> (floor x y)

Thanks for this interesting point.

I don't think it's a good lang design, more of a lang quirk.

similarly, in Python 2.x,
x/y
will work when both x and y are integers. Also,
x//y
works too, but that // is just perlish unreadable syntax quirk.

similarly, in perl, either one
require POSIX; floor(x/y);
the require POSIX instead of Math is a quirk. But even, floor should
really be builtin.
or
using a perl hack
int(x/y)

all of the above are quirks. They rely on computer engineering by-
products (such as int), or rely on the lang's idiosyncrasy. One easy
way to measure it is whether a programer can read and understand a
program without having to delve into its idiosyncrasies. Problem with
these lang idioms is that it's harder to understand, and whatever
advantage/optimization they provide is microscopic and temporary.

best is really floor(x/y).

idiomatic programing, is a bad thing. It was spread by perl, of
course, in the 1990s. Idiomatic lang, i.e. lang with huge number of
bizarre idioms, such as perl, is the worst.

 Xah

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lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl, Python, Lisp Xah Lee <xahlee@gmail.com> - 2012-02-29 20:07 -0800
  Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl, Python, Lisp Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-03-01 05:01 +0000
    Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl, Python, Lisp Xah Lee <xahlee@gmail.com> - 2012-02-29 21:39 -0800
  Re: Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl, Python, Lisp Evan Driscoll <driscoll@cs.wisc.edu> - 2012-03-01 00:07 -0600
  Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp "WJ" <w_a_x_man@yahoo.com> - 2012-03-01 06:37 +0000
    Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mssgmbh.com> - 2012-03-01 22:14 +0000
    Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp Xah Lee <xahlee@gmail.com> - 2012-03-01 14:04 -0800
      Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-03-02 18:11 +1100
        Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp Xah Lee <xahlee@gmail.com> - 2012-03-02 03:30 -0800
  Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl, Python, Lisp Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mssgmbh.com> - 2012-03-01 14:39 +0000
  Re: lang comparison: in-place algorithm for reversing a list in Perl,Python, Lisp "WJ" <w_a_x_man@yahoo.com> - 2012-03-02 07:17 +0000

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