On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Rich Hickey <richhic...@gmail.com> wrote: > This L suffix idea is a non-starter. Here's why: > > We're in a reader based language. The reader reads objects. When the reader > reads 42, it must return an object. It cannot return an int or a long > primitive. Right now, it returns an Integer. I've also conducted experiments > where it returned a Long. Certainly 42000000000 will be a Long. What > different thing would the reader return given 42L, or 42000000000L? Given an > int 42 what should the printer print? And long 42, Long 42? Would (= 42L > (read-string (pr-str 42L)))?
But what if the reader reads 42 as a BigInteger (or an alternative implementation) and 42L as a Long? then you should be able to tell them apart. I agree with the goals of the num branch, I'm just unconvinced by the reader defaulting to Long for integer literals. Christophe -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en
