Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!ogicse!usenet!mist.CS.ORST.EDU!budd From: budd@mist.CS.ORST.EDU (Tim Budd) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++ Subject: Re: complex float z = 1.0i2.2; Message-ID: <1991Mar01.173809.5709@lynx.CS.ORST.EDU> Date: 1 Mar 91 17:38:09 GMT References: <1991Feb13.233418.26399@intellistor.com> <6540@celery34.UUCP> Sender: @lynx.CS.ORST.EDU Distribution: comp Organization: Computer Science Department, Oregon State Univ. Lines: 12 Nntp-Posting-Host: mist.cs.orst.edu Notice that there is nothing to stop a programmer from creating a new class complex, and creating a global variable ``i'' defined as sqrt(-1), and overriding the arithmetic operators. Ignoring issues of memory management (which can also be addressed), creating a new complex number is then no more complicated then saying 3 + 4*i I don't think may people would complain about having to enter the additional symbol ``*'', at least not after the third or 4th time they made the mistake of leaving it out. So I don't see a whole lot of sense in making complex numbers part of the language.