Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!willett!ForthNet
From: ForthNet@willett.UUCP (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Category 10,  Topic 31
Message-ID: <182.UUL1.3#5129@willett.UUCP>
Date: 5 Jan 90 16:04:43 GMT
Organization: Latest Link in ForthNet Chain
Lines: 27

Category 10,  Topic 31
Message 11        Sun Dec 24, 1989
R.BERKEY [Robert]            at 09:10 PST

  Roedy Green writes:

 RG> 7.0540  >
 RG>     Specify that > must give the correct answer even when
 RG>     comparing max-minus and max-plus.  In other words the
 RG>     compare must be implemented with compare instructions, not
 RG>     subtractions.  If you don't want to do that, specify in the
 RG>     standard that comparisons involving max plus and max minus
 RG>     are undefined.

Interesting.  Implementors of 32-bit systems can define the range of a signed
number as +-2^30, and implement > with a subtraction.

: >   ( n1 n2 -- Flag )   SWAP - 0< ;

Relatedly, by declaring unsigned numbers at +2^30, one can then define:

: U>   > ;


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