[72] in java-interest
min, max. ( was Re: Questions on importing and the VM spec )
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Richard Tuck)
Tue May 9 14:34:13 1995
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 11:06:19 +0800
From: rt@scndprsn.Eng.Sun.COM (Richard Tuck)
To: java-interest@java.Eng.Sun.COM
jeremy@sour.sw.oz.au (Jeremy Fitzhardinge) writes:
...
The language spec talks about the operators abs(), max() and
min() in 7.1, Operators. I notice that java.lang.Math defines
these as methods, so I wonder if they are really considered to be
part of the language or as part of the library (that is, are they
really "operators" or methods in the standard library?). Is it
The language spec. wording here is in error (i.e. utterly wrong). They
are public static methods in java.lang.Math. That is all.
legal to just have
import java.lang.Math;
// ...
int i = min(int1, int2);
or do you have to say
int i = Math.min(int1, int2);?
Yes, you have to say Math.min.
If they are operators, are they keywords? If so, it would make
java.lang.Math hard to compile, unless there's some special rules
about method names and reserved words...
Not operators, not keywords.
Also, it doesn't actually describe what they do. Sure, they have
descriptive enough names, from which you can guess their operation,
but all the spec says about their semantics is that "The operators
abs(x), max(x,y), and min(x,y) work for integers as they do for
all numbers" (ditto for floats), and there's no fallback on the C
standard. The class API doc doesn't say what Math.abs() etc do
either.
Thanks,
J
- ------
References to min, min, abs, need to be removed from the language spec.
entirely, or referenced only as part of java.lang.Math. And as you point out,
the class API doc for them needs to be filled in. No doubt about it. Especially
for the floating point cases where not all values are ordered.
rt
-
Note to Sun employees: this is an EXTERNAL mailing list!
Info: send 'help' to java-interest-request@java.sun.com
