[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Query about proposed slight change to FIX and FIXR functions (again)



Basically I am happy with the proposal.

Presumably part of the idea here is that FLOOR and ROUND are just plain
better names than FIX and FIXR, so we are adding them instead of just
using the names FIX and FIXR.  In this case, I agree with your decision,
since these names are well-known and have well-understood meanings,
throughout the world of computers.

Using "F" as a prefix to mean "Floating point" as distinct from "Fixed
point" is not the most unambiguous thing in the whole world; it reminds
me of "MMCALL" and suchlike.  If anyone can think of anything better,
please suggest it.  The only thing I can think of is a trailing dollar
sign, whose only virtue is the Maclisp precedent, since we don't use
it anywhere in the Lisp Machine except in Maclisp compatibility functions.
But if nobody comes up with a better alternative, I think it is acceptable.