From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 21028 invoked by alias); 10 Jan 2015 19:14:49 -0000 Mailing-List: contact zsh-workers-help@zsh.org; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk X-No-Archive: yes List-Id: Zsh Workers List List-Post: List-Help: X-Seq: 34216 Received: (qmail 10365 invoked from network); 10 Jan 2015 19:14:47 -0000 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.2 (2011-06-06) on f.primenet.com.au X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham version=3.3.2 X-CMAE-Score: 0 X-CMAE-Analysis: v=2.1 cv=Ko/6AtSI c=1 sm=1 tr=0 a=FT8er97JFeGWzr5TCOCO5w==:117 a=kj9zAlcOel0A:10 a=q2GGsy2AAAAA:8 a=oR5dmqMzAAAA:8 a=-9mUelKeXuEA:10 a=YNv0rlydsVwA:10 a=EHDFZ4GfHiY7FSVQ1SAA:9 a=CjuIK1q_8ugA:10 From: Bart Schaefer Message-id: <150110111445.ZM21328@torch.brasslantern.com> Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 11:14:45 -0800 In-reply-to: <54B173ED.20301@eastlink.ca> Comments: In reply to Ray Andrews "Re: Math expression evaluation error?" (Jan 10, 10:48am) References: <54B03024.1030309@gmail.com> <20150109201552.1304eafe@ntlworld.com> <54B04ADA.9050102@gmail.com> <54B05407.7090303@eastlink.ca> <775A96D9-12A6-499B-8AAB-B2431F13701D@larryv.me> <54B069A9.2040504@eastlink.ca> <54B0D451.1000502@eastlink.ca> <150110085320.ZM28012@torch.brasslantern.com> <54B173ED.20301@eastlink.ca> X-Mailer: OpenZMail Classic (0.9.2 24April2005) To: zsh-workers@zsh.org Subject: Re: Math expression evaluation error? MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Jan 10, 10:48am, Ray Andrews wrote: } } is just to ask: What is most useful? What would produce the maximum } utility along with the least surprise, especially for a new user? In } which direction is 'the future'? Call me a cynic or a curmudgeon as you prefer, but the future of new users who would give so little thought and study to the tools they are using as to find this a problem more than once, is to not use shells at all. It *is* probably less than ideal that "zcalc -f" is not the default for the actual calculator utility; but pretending that $(( ... )) could ever be described "a calculator with no surprises or gotchas" regardless of integer arithmetic, is misleading because it isn't a calculator and trying to think of it that way is going to cause surprises and gotchas.