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To: python-list@python.org
From: Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: a.index(float('nan')) fails
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2012 00:48:46 -0400
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Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:32266

On 26 Oct 2012 16:23:51 GMT, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> declaimed the following in
gmane.comp.python.general:

> Anyone who has used a pocket calculator will be used to floating point 
> calculations being wrong, so much so that most people don't even think 

	I don't know about the more modern calculators, but at least up
through my HP-41CX, HP calculators didn't do (binary) "floating
point"... They did a form of BCD with a fixed number of significant
/decimal/ digits (and did not keep a guard digit -- whereas my first
scientific calculator maintained one or two guard digits which were
beyond the displayable precision, but could be seen by subtracting the
displayed value from the computed value)
-- 
	Wulfraed                 Dennis Lee Bieber         AF6VN
        wlfraed@ix.netcom.com    HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/