Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!ccount
From: ccount@athena.mit.edu (Craig A Counterman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: Does it have to be like this?
Summary: It does.
Keywords: octal
Message-ID: <1990Oct13.011926.26752@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 13 Oct 90 01:19:26 GMT
References: <1990Oct12.060936.7501@athena.mit.edu> <9951@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 45

OK, so it does have to be like this :-)

In article <9951@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) writes:
>In article <1990Oct12.060936.7501@athena.mit.edu> ccount@athena.mit.edu (Craig A Counterman) writes:
>: 010 < 10.  I can deal.
>: 010.0 > 10.  This bugs me.

Actually, I later decided it didn't bug me _that_ much.

> ...

>You want a "good" language, don't look here.  Perl is pathologically eclectic,
>and like Unix itself, generally gives you enough rope to hang yourself.
>Other than the fact that it almost always does what you want, it's a lousy
>language.  I'm not a language designer.  I'm just a squeaky-wheel greaser.

Well, I _still_ consider it a good language, it's saved me lots of
time already.  I promote it at every opportunity I get.  I just was
surprised by this behaviour.

>
>Right.  I suppose I should point out that you're the first person to point
>this out.  Obviously not a major malfunction...

True enough.

>
>It might be worth a warning with -w though.

Yes, please.  Leading zeros occasionally occur in tabulated numbers,
and if one converts the table to an array, through simple string
manipulation, one may end up with +013.0512, which is a problem (in C
and perl).  Actually, in perl you're still safe as long as you quote
it, "+013.0123", so perl does beat C after all.

I think 010.0 - 010.0000 yielding 720 is the wierdest perl thing I
haven't seen in a JAPH.  After after The Book comes out, there should
be a 'perl puzzle book'.  Perhaps it could be a companion volume to
the 'book of perl poems' :-).

>
>Larry

Thanks,
Craig