integers and floating points

[btanksley@hifn.com]

> From: David New [mailto:dave@bespin.dhs.org]
> Subject: integers and floating points

> In most systems (mabye all...I odn't know) integers and floats are
> separated.  In a higher level system such as TUNES, wouldn't 
> it be better
> if we just unified the two as far as the language goes.  I 
> believe in weak
> typing so It may not matter but it would seem to simplify things if we
> just combined the two.  What do you guys think?

Lisp has a unified number system -- almost all number types are
automatically converted from one to another as needed.  Machine integer,
indefinite length integer, rational number, and so on.  The only number type
NOT included in that automatic conversion is floating point, because
floating point has such different properties.

It would be bad, VERY bad, to confuse integer (exact) math with floating
point (inexact math).

> David New (dave@tunes.org)

-Billy