According to the description you copied, a cardinal can never be zero.
any of the numbers
that express amount, as one, two, three, etc.
So it is more accurate to call it an integer.
On Mon, Jan 13, 2020 at 1:32 AM ToddAndMargo via perl6-users <
perl6-users@perl.org> wrote:
> On 2020-01-12 20:03, Darren Duncan wrote:
> > On 2020-01-09 10:10 a.m., ToddAndMargo via perl6-users wrote:
> >> A bug to report:
> >>
> >> $ p6 'my uint32 $c; $c = "ABC";'
> >> This type cannot unbox to a native integer: P6opaque, Str
> >> in block <unit> at -e line 1
> >>
> >> "uint32" is not an "integer". It is a cardinal. If
> >> they really want to use the word "integer" for cardinal,
> >> they should change the wording to "unsigned integer".
> >>
> >> Picky, picky, picky
> >
> > ToddAndMargo, you are wrong on this.
> >
> > A uint32 is NOT specifically a cardinal.
>
> Hi Darren,
>
> Since a uint32 ca not be negative or a fraction,
> it is a cardinal. Other operating system do call
> them cardinals, such as Modula2. Pascal, C++ (I
> think C too), Java, and so on and so forth.
>
> > At best you can say it can be characterized by a cardinal or be
> > isomorphic to one.
>
> https://www.dictionary.com/browse/isomorphism
> isomorphism
> noun
> Mathematics. a one-to-one relation onto the map
> between two sets, which preserves the relations
> existing between elements in its domain.
>
> I am not following what you are getting at.
>
> > A uint32 is just as much an ordinal as a cardinal, so insisting on
> > calling it a cardinal means the type can't be used as an ordinal, or a
> > variety of other things.
>
> https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ordinal-number
> ordinal number
> noun
> Also called ordinal numeral. any of the numbers that
> express degree, quality, or position in a series, as
> first, second, and third *(distinguished from cardinal
> number)*.
>
> Mathematics. a symbol denoting both the cardinal number
> and the ordering of a given set, being identical for
> two ordered sets having elements that can be placed
> into one-to-one correspondence, the correspondence
> preserving the order of the elements.
>
> https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cardinal-number
> cardinal number
> noun
> Also called cardinal numeral. any of the numbers
> that express amount, as one, two, three, etc.
> *(distinguished from ordinal number)*.
>
> No idea how you are mixing these two. I can see
> how yo would use a cardinal in programming to
> denote an ordinal, if that is what you are getting at.
>
>
> > Calling this an unsigned integer (u int) is much more accurate as it
> > doesn't presume a particular semantics such as that we are storing a
> > count rather than a position for example, it says what we actually know,
> > and no more.
>
> I am sorry, I have no idea what you are trying to say. I do not care if
> you call a cardinal an unsigned integer. Just
> don't call it an integer. The high bit in a cardinal is
> part of the number and denotes a negative number in an integer.
>
> >
> > You are also wrong on saying that the values one can store in a uint32
> > are not integers; they definitely ARE integers. Every cardinal is an
> > integer.
>
> Where do you get that. A cardinal can not be negative. An
> Integer can. And the structure is even different: the high
> bit in an integer denote the sign of the integer; the high bit
> in a cardinal is just a higher positive number. So they
> are not the same by any shake.
>
>
> > If you want to be precise, calling a uint32 an "unsigned integer" or
> > "cardinal" is inaccurate in the same way that calling it an "integer"
> > is.
>
> Perfectly accurate. Unsigned integer and a cardinal are
> exactly the same thing. The only difference is the
> amount of letter you need to use to describe them.
> Sort of like "associative array" and "hash"
>
> > In either case, the variable can only hold a proper subset of
> > either type, not all of them. If you're calling integer wrong then one
> > will have to call the type something like "integers in the range
> > 0..^2**32".
> >
> > -- Darren Duncan
>
> The difference between a cardinal and an integer is
> the high bit. Both are whole numbers. An integer
> can be negative. A cardinal can not.
>
> If you are going to error out something, say the proper
> variable type you are error out on. Cardinal or unsigned
> integer, I don't care which you call a cardinal. Whatever
> floats your boat. Both descriptions are correct. Just
> be correct.
>
> -T
>
> p.s. in assembly, they call a cardinal an unsigned integer.
>
