Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!lll-lcc!ames!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpcea!hpfcdc!boemker
From: boemker@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Tim Boemker)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: 0 as a magic number
Message-ID: <5080015@hpfcdc.HP.COM>
Date: 18 Jan 88 20:07:12 GMT
References: <39.bagpiper@oxy.UUCP>
Organization: HP Ft. Collins, Co.
Lines: 17

>>Zero symmetrically divides the number line.  If one had to choose ONE
>>of the values on the number line as being unique, it would have to be

>Intuitively this is correct.  But mathematically this is wrong.  On both
>the integer number line and the real number line under normal topology
>(-infinity,b) and (b,infinity) are the same size where b is any number.
>In the integer case both sets are countable infinite.  In the real case both
>sets are uncountable infinite.  This, along with reasons that others have
>stated makes me think that even 0 is a bad magic number.

Zero does symmetrically divide the number line.  Symmetry does not necessarily
mean that the number line is divided into two pieces of equal length.  In this
case, it can mean that -x and +x are equally distant from 0.  (By the way, I
am not promoting the use of zero as a magic number.)

Tim Boemker
boemker@hpfcdq