Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!feg
From: feg@clyde.ATT.COM (Forrest Gehrke)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Power operator?
Summary: Open the door a crack, comes deluge!
Message-ID: <20084@clyde.ATT.COM>
Date: 12 Jan 88 16:38:12 GMT
References: <11169@brl-adm.ARPA> <10026@ut-sally.UUCP> <7007@brl-smoke.ARPA> <7014@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ
Lines: 26

In article <7014@brl-smoke.ARPA>, gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) writes:
> In article <7007@brl-smoke.ARPA> I wrote:
> >>      a ^^ b
> >I think this is about as good a notation as we can get ...
> 
> However, as Karl pointer out, this would make a good logical exclusive-or
> operator also, and I can see that the "strong argument" for exponentiation
> would also apply, somewhat more weakly, to exclusive-or, which I've often
> needed and have had to kludge ((a != 0) ^ (b != 0)).
> 
> You see what a can of worms is opened up, once you start admitting
> extensions?  Or, to mix metaphors, once you let a foot get in the door?





 
If the argument for adding extensions is to avoid kludges, then let me
be next in line: how about complex algebra notation (a + jb)?
Exponentiation of complex variables could make good use of the
exponent operator---and no one has mentioned root extraction yet.
We could turn C into Ada++ overnight!

Forrest Gehrke