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Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview?

From Doc O'Leary <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com>
Newsgroups comp.lang.javascript
Subject Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview?
Date 2016-09-13 21:38 +0000
Organization Subsume Technologies, Inc.
Message-ID <nr9rjq$22i$2@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References (13 earlier) <nqvilf$a4r$1@dont-email.me> <nr1965$6qh$1@dont-email.me> <87d1kbtgxn.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <nr6vhe$lka$3@dont-email.me> <87mvjcr7jg.fsf@bsb.me.uk>

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For your reference, records indicate that 
Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> wrote:

> You've cut the context.  I suspect that's deliberate.

It is, in that this discussion has gotten longer without any new 
information being added.

> You were objecting to a rule which only makes sense about lists (well,
> arrays in ECMAScript) so it's important to explain why max might be
> called with zero arguments.  You are unlikely to write Math.max() in
> your code, but you might apply max to an array.

Again, *irrelevant* to whether or not valid result can be obtained.  
The only question that matters is what a reasonable result *should* 
be for a function called with 0, 1, 2, or however many arguments are 
or are not given.

> >> Given that, you don't want the partitioning a list to affect the result;
> >
> > I don’t give a damn what your internal implementation is.
> 
> What?  I'm not saying anything about the implementation.

You are.  You introduced “partitioning” into the discussion.  That 
(i.e., being a recursive call) is an implementation detail.  And 
one, I suspect, that has *nothing* to do with the actual code that 
is used to compute the result in most JavaScript implementations 
of these Math functions.

> Everything you do when you apply max to an empty array will be able to
> screw up some calculations.

Indeed.  And that’s why it’s best if we screw things up in a *good* 
way, and not by returning a result that fabricates a falsely 
“correct” value.

> returning -Infinity is both useful and consistent, and not surprising to
> people used to other similar functions like 'some' and 'every'.

The reality is exactly the opposite of what you claim.  Again, I 
encourage you to go talk to actual humans and ask them what makes 
sense in these cases, since *they* are the ones who are going to 
suffer trying to use your buggy code.  I would still wage large 
sums of money that none of them want the behavior you describe.

> > And what of the inconsistency in the root max() < min() comparison?
> > I consider *that* relationship to be more fundamental
> 
> What relationship should they have?  (This is a serious question -- I'm
> not sure what you aould have done had you been in charge.)

They should have a “useful and consistent, and not surprising” 
relationship.  Again, talk to a human if you are unable to figure 
out what that would be.

> I think you've misunderstood the case being made.  It may well be
> convenient to implement it this way, but my interest is in making the
> function convenient to use.

It’d be damn convenient if it didn’t fabricate results that screw 
up future calculations wouldn’t it?  What’s the average maximum 
daily temperate for a month where hourly data couldn’t be collected 
one day?  If you say -Infinity, you should never be allowed to work 
at a job that uses numbers again.

-- 
"Also . . . I can kill you with my brain."
River Tam, Trash, Firefly

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Thread

How would you prepare for javascripting interview? justaguy <lichunshen84@gmail.com> - 2016-07-18 09:10 -0700
  Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Hans-Georg Michna <hans-georgNoEmailPlease@michna.com> - 2016-07-18 18:37 +0200
    Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? justaguy <lichunshen84@gmail.com> - 2016-07-18 11:09 -0700
      Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-07-21 01:04 +0000
        Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-07-21 14:24 +0100
        Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2016-07-23 16:25 +0200
          Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-07-23 15:56 +0000
            Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-03 19:39 +0000
              Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-04 15:56 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-05 00:06 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-05 14:49 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? $Bill <news@todbe.com> - 2016-09-05 10:01 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-09-06 09:36 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-05 15:05 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Andreas Bergmaier <andber93@web.de> - 2016-09-05 20:31 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-06 15:15 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2016-09-06 19:40 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-06 19:25 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Andreas Bergmaier <andber93@web.de> - 2016-09-06 22:16 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-07 17:17 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Andreas Bergmaier <andber93@web.de> - 2016-09-07 20:07 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-08 14:36 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-05 18:46 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-05 20:32 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-05 17:27 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-05 20:12 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-06 16:48 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Andreas Bergmaier <andber93@web.de> - 2016-09-06 19:56 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-07 20:16 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-09-07 10:01 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-07 20:21 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-09-09 11:41 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? "Michael Haufe (TNO)" <tno@thenewobjective.com> - 2016-09-09 15:35 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? "Michael Haufe (TNO)" <tno@thenewobjective.com> - 2016-09-09 20:40 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-10 15:12 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-09-12 11:14 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-13 21:07 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-06 16:20 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ken Tilton <kentilton@gmail.com> - 2016-09-05 11:37 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2016-09-06 19:26 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? "Michael Haufe (TNO)" <tno@thenewobjective.com> - 2016-09-08 12:41 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-05 20:37 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-05 22:13 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-06 02:33 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-06 16:02 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-09-06 09:50 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-07 01:36 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-09-07 10:07 -0700
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-10 00:03 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-10 00:12 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-10 15:34 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-11 01:32 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-12 19:26 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-13 01:02 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-13 21:38 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? "Christoph M. Becker" <cmbecker69@arcor.de> - 2016-09-14 00:56 +0200
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-15 15:09 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-14 00:47 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-15 15:34 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-11 02:45 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-12 19:10 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-12 21:06 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-07 03:12 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-07 19:53 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-10 02:14 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-10 11:25 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-10 15:49 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-10 18:39 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-11 02:45 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-11 16:23 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-12 20:32 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-12 18:49 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-13 00:27 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2016-09-13 08:51 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu> - 2016-09-13 12:33 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Scott Sauyet <scott@sauyet.com> - 2016-09-14 01:17 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2016-09-14 11:15 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> - 2016-09-15 15:02 +0000
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-13 10:06 +0100
                Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? John Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2016-09-06 19:53 +0100
    Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2016-07-18 22:30 +0200
  Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? justaguy <lichunshen84@gmail.com> - 2016-07-18 14:56 -0700
  Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Joao Rodrigues <groups_jr-1@yahoo.com.br> - 2016-07-19 16:01 -0300
    Re: How would you prepare for javascripting interview? Joao Rodrigues <groups_jr-1@yahoo.com.br> - 2016-07-19 16:16 -0300

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