Too big integers

[Richard Heathfield]

[Manish's reply hasn't yet reached my server.]

Nobody interrupted you. Richard was trying to be helpful, just as you
were; that's why we're here. There's absolutely nothing pathetic
about it. It looks like you're taking offense where none was
intended.

Thanks, Keith, for backing me up, but I've just re-read the thread and it
does seem that Manish does have at least the makings of a valid point here.
In between reading his original reply and composing my reply to it, it
seems I forgot that he wasn't actually the OP! So it was partly my fault.
I'm not sure why he's so cross about it, though.

And I still don't know what he means by "where the big integers can be
implemented".

 

[Manish Singh]

[Manish's reply hasn't yet reached my server.]

Nobody interrupted you. Richard was trying to be helpful, just as you
were; that's why we're here. There's absolutely nothing pathetic
about it. It looks like you're taking offense where none was
intended.

Thanks, Keith, for backing me up, but I've just re-read the thread and it
does seem that Manish does have at least the makings of a valid point here.
In between reading his original reply and composing my reply to it, it
seems I forgot that he wasn't actually the OP! So it was partly my fault.
I'm not sure why he's so cross about it, though.

You said 'at least'?
I never showed any sign of anger, did I? All that I reacted to was unexpected.

And I still don't know what he means by "where the big integers can be
implemented".

Implemented in a program. Implemented on some crypto system. Implemented
some'where'. Last chance, change it "where it can be applied". Hmm?
Okay, I give up. You won, congratulations.

Regards,
Manish

 

[Manish Singh]

Nobody interrupted you. Richard was trying to be helpful, just as you
were; that's why we're here. There's absolutely nothing pathetic
about it. It looks like you're taking offense where none was
intended.

He did, actually. You may have to re-read the thread to get the whole picture.
Indeed he was trying to helpful, but unfortunately to someone who didn't
ask for it. Isn't it awful when you come to realize that someone you know and
respect have become picky syntax checkers, more annoying than most Lints?

Regards,
Manish

 

[Sidney Cadot]

He did, actually. You may have to re-read the thread to get the whole picture.
Indeed he was trying to helpful, but unfortunately to someone who didn't
ask for it. Isn't it awful when you come to realize that someone you know and
respect have become picky syntax checkers, more annoying than most Lints?

Chill! Mr. Heathfield already admitted to making a mistake, thinking you
were the OP. I've been following this newsgroup for quite some time now
and he is one of the most helpful people around here... You'd better
save the name-calling for people who are more deservant of it.

Best regards,

Sidney

 

[Manish Singh]

Chill! Mr. Heathfield already admitted to making a mistake, thinking you
were the OP. I've been following this newsgroup for quite some time now
and he is one of the most helpful people around here... You'd better
save the name-calling for people who are more deservant of it.

Best regards,

Sidney

There is no doubt that he is one of the best people around here, helpful or not.
I never intended to hurt him or anyone else in this NG. There was some
misunderstanding on both sides which resulted in some un-necessary postings.
However, there is no need to apologize. It's all settled, I believe.

One thing, I'm still not sure why it was only him who had a problem with that
sentence. He could have corrected it, but he chose to have 'I'll-help-you-no-
matter-you-need-it-or-not' type attitude instead. Anyway ...

Regards,
Manish

 

[Richard Heathfield]

Implemented in a program. Implemented on some crypto system. Implemented
some'where'.

What difference does it make? Typically, bignum stuff goes in a library, and
is used wherever needed.

Last chance, change it "where it can be applied". Hmm?

Oh, is that all you meant? Well, it can be applied anywhere it's needed.

Okay, I give up. You won, congratulations.

I didn't realise it was a competition. You seem offended. I'm not sure why,
but it was not my intent to offend you. If I have done so, I apologise.

 

[Keith Thompson]

He did, actually. You may have to re-read the thread to get the
whole picture. Indeed he was trying to helpful, but unfortunately
to someone who didn't ask for it. Isn't it awful when you come to
realize that someone you know and respect have become picky syntax
checkers, more annoying than most Lints?

Not to beat a dead horse, but I don't believe Richard was being
terribly picky. You wrote "I don't know where it can be implemented."
(and yes, that's out of context). I, for one, honestly didn't know
what you meant, but I didn't happen to reply.

There's a difference between picking on someone's grammar when it's
obvious what they meant, and asking for clarification when an odd
grammatical construct actually obscures the meaning. It may have
seemed perfectly clear to you; you'll just have to make my and
Richard's word for it that it wasn't clear to at least some of your
readers.

I apologize sincerely for any offense I may have inadvertently caused,
and insincerely for the mildly snide tone I've inserted into this
apology by adding this clause.

 

[Mark McIntyre]

[Manish's reply hasn't yet reached my server.]

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing.

Not trying to be picky, but two negatives makes a positive in English.
So this says "I want anything"

I never expected someone to interrupt me and

You said 'at least'?
I never showed any sign of anger, did I? All that I reacted to was unexpected.

When someone apologises, its conventinal to say "thats ok", not to
continue to rant. YMMV

 

[Mark McIntyre]

He did, actually.

Its impossible to interrupt someone in a written medium. Your messages
are becoming ridiculous.

 

[Keith Thompson]

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing.

Not trying to be picky, but two negatives makes a positive in English.
So this says "I want anything"

Trying to be picky, but a double negative in informal English often
implies a negative. When Mick Jagger sings "I can't get no
satisfaction", he's not complaining that he's too satisfied.

Depending on the context, though, it's not unlikely to be
misinterpreted; "I don't want anything" would have been clearer.

 

[CBFalconer]

.... snip ...

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing.

Not trying to be picky, but two negatives makes a positive in
English. So this says "I want anything"

Nah. He don't want no nevermind.

 

[Manish Singh]

[Manish's reply hasn't yet reached my server.]

Keith Thompson wrote:

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing.

Not trying to be picky, but two negatives makes a positive in English.
So this says "I want anything"

Let's make it clear. English ain't no mathematics.
Well, if there is any ISO English standard that you're well aware of, let us
all share it.

When someone apologises, its conventinal to say "thats ok", not to
continue to rant. YMMV

'Conventional' is the keyword here.

Regards,
Manish

 

[Manish Singh]

What difference does it make? Typically, bignum stuff goes in a library, and
is used wherever needed.


Oh, is that all you meant? Well, it can be applied anywhere it's needed.

That's it!
The OP intended to write a C program which would make use of big ..BIG integers.
Take a look at what he said, again.
"I want to make a program that will need to use too long integers".
Obviously, the OP had not written a single program utilizing bignums, until
then. Now, is someone supposed to write a BigNum library himself if he hasn't
written a single program which makes use of big integers?

That is why I said that writing his very own bignum lib was out of question.
Even if he manages to write one, though an achievement for him, it would not
serve the purpose very well. Hint: Optimizations.

I didn't realise it was a competition. You seem offended. I'm not sure why,
but it was not my intent to offend you. If I have done so, I apologise.

No, please don't! There is no need to apologize.
I personally believe what happened to this thread was very unfortunate.
OTOH, I learnt my lesson. That a single misunderstanding can spoil the whole
thread. That a single logic error can result in such a mess.

And, that a single logic error can trigger a series of "undefined behaviour" and
a LOT of arrogance.

Regards,
Manish

 

[Peter Pichler]

[I cannot see Mark's message, sorry Keith]

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing.

Not trying to be picky, but two negatives makes a positive in English.
So this says "I want anything"

This is hugely off-topic, discussing other languages than C here, but...
shouldn't that be "I want something?"

Consider this just a curious question of a non-native English speaker.

Depending on the context, though, it's not unlikely to be
misinterpreted; "I don't want anything" would have been clearer.

Keeping this part only to retain at least some of Keith's post ;-)

Peter

 

[Manish Singh]

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing. I never expected someone to interrupt me and

Nobody interrupted you.

He did, actually.

Its impossible to interrupt someone in a written medium. Your messages
are becoming ridiculous.

Technically, it's possible Mr Mark.
You happen to think of this thread as a piece of paper. I don't.
Don't confuse an electronic medium with a writing medium. And I really hate
it being told that interrupts can't be raised or accepted in an electronic
medium. Each time I press a key on my keyboard, an interrupt is caused and is
processed by the appropriate handler.

Technical stuff aside.
My copy of Oxford Dictionary includes some examples under the entry 'interrupt'.
"Trade between the two countries was interrupted by the war". Here's another,
"We interrupt this programme to bring you a news flash".

An interrupt is a mere disturbance. It can be used to break any continuity or
process. Be it reading, writing, taking or posting in newsgroups.

Your comments are becoming impotent.

Regards,
Manish

 

[Kevin Goodsell]

This is hugely off-topic, discussing other languages than C here, but...
shouldn't that be "I want something?"

Consider this just a curious question of a non-native English speaker.

That would be my interpretation. I'm both a native English speaker and
an "only English" speaker.

-Kevin

 

[Richard Heathfield]

That's it!
The OP intended to write a C program which would make use of big ..BIG
integers. Take a look at what he said, again.
"I want to make a program that will need to use too long integers".
Yeeeeesss....

Obviously, the OP had not written a single program utilizing bignums,
until then. Now, is someone supposed to write a BigNum library himself if
he hasn't written a single program which makes use of big integers?

Well, that's what I did. It was because I wanted to write such programs that
I wrote a library that would let me write those programs. So why shouldn't
he, if he's bright enough? (In fact, he doesn't need to be /that/ bright -
after all, I managed all right.)

That is why I said that writing his very own bignum lib was out of
question.

It isn't, if he's bright enough.

Even if he manages to write one, though an achievement for him,
it would not serve the purpose very well.

Why on earth not?

Hint: Optimizations.

Premature optimisation is the root of all evil. First make it right. Then
make it fast, if it's not fast enough already.

Incidentally, with one minor exception - conversion to base 10 - I haven't
tried to optimise my bignum library. Okay, it isn't the fastest in the
world, but it's no slouch. It's certainly fast enough for my purposes.

<snip>

 

[J. J. Farrell]

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) wrote in message

One thing, I'm still not sure why it was only him who had a problem with that
sentence.

It certainly wasn't only Richard. I could not work out what you meant
by those sentences. I had difficulty with your earlier message, but
managed to guess right in that case. With the message that lead to this
furore, I could think of some possible interpretations, but I couldn't
see any way to tell which one you meant or if you meant something else
I hadn't thought of.

He could have corrected it, but he chose to have 'I'll-help-you-no-
matter-you-need-it-or-not' type attitude instead. Anyway ...

How could he have corrected it since he didn't know what you meant?
Are you saying you think he knew what you meant but was just pretending
that he didn't? I can't speak for Richard, but that wasn't true in my
case. Asking you to explain was the obvious way to get the problem
corrected for all of us.

 

[Keith Thompson]

That would be my interpretation. I'm both a native English speaker and
an "only English" speaker.

(The original statement was "I don't want nothing".)

A painfully literal interpretation would be "I want something". The
obvious idiomatic or slang interpretation would be "I don't want
anything".

 

[Joona I Palaste]

[I cannot see Mark's message, sorry Keith]

(e-mail address removed) (Manish Singh) writes:
[...]

I don't want nothing.

Not trying to be picky, but two negatives makes a positive in English.
So this says "I want anything"

This is hugely off-topic, discussing other languages than C here, but...
shouldn't that be "I want something?"

Not necessarily. The way I see it is:
"I want anything" is:
A x: (x exists) => (I want x),
while "I want something" is:
E x: (x exists) & (I want x).
To those who can't read my pseudo-logical symbols, this means that
"I want anything" means "For all x that exist, I want x", while
"I want something" means "There is an x that exists, and I want x".
So the real point is that in the latter, there are existing things
that the speaker doesn't want. In the former, there aren't.
Also "I want anything" does not equal "I want everything". The former
is content with being given less than everything. The latter is not.