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From: jrv@sdimax2.mitre.org (VanZandt)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Why do most C compilers poxily round towards zero ?
Message-ID: <122954@linus.mitre.org>
Date: 11 Oct 90 13:34:26 GMT
References: <1990Oct9.230928.27552@arp.anu.oz.au> <XTB6WKB@xds13.ferranti.com>
Sender: usenet@linus.mitre.org
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In article <XTB6WKB@xds13.ferranti.com> peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>In article <1990Oct9.230928.27552@arp.anu.oz.au> peterf@arp.anu.oz.au (Peter Fletcher) writes:
>> One of the most frustrating things about using floating point in C is the
>> poxy way rounds floating point numbers towards zero instead of -infinity.
>
>The same problem exists with the modulus operator. Mathematically, the
>modulus operator !A mod B! should produce a result in the range !0..B-1!.
>In fact, it produces a result in the range !1-B..B-1!. 

Amen!  I vote for a library function to calculate the modulus the right
way, which compiler writers could then expand inline.  (Incidently, although
I have several times needed to use a negative first argument, I've
never needed a negative second argument.  Are there really applications
for A mod B where B<0?)

                                   - Jim Van Zandt