Dan Bron writes in http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/DanBron/Naive

 Eratosthenes didn't know any programming languages,
 and I know several. Yet, I am not confident that, 
 if [he] had not invented [the sieve], I would have.

I believe you understate the overwhelming advantages
you have over Eratosthenes.  Among them:

- algebra
- Arabic positional number system
- initimate familiarity with the 4 basic arithmetic 
  operations
- number systems, in particular the integers and 
  rationals

A bright (top 10%, say) student in High School 
mathematics should be able to invent the prime 
sieve.



----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Bron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Monday, May 21, 2007 1:04 pm
Subject: Re: [Jprogramming] How can I get a list containing of every multiple 
of2 less than or equal to 27?

> Terrence Brannon wrote:
> 
> >  I'm sure many of you are suspecting that I am doing a 
> >  naive implementation of ...   I think Roger's solution
> >  ... is optimized and hence not acceptable.
> 
> Like others, I am annoyed by the concept of a language shootout 
> which forces you to use a naive implementation. 
> 
> What is the point of comparing languages if you're not allowed to 
> use the advantages intrinsic to each language?
> 
> My Op Ed piece is here:
> 
>   http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/DanBron/Naive
> 
> -Dan
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