Re: arithmetic issues

[Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk <qrczak@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thomas Bushnell BSG <tb@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:

>>> An implementation could use sparse arrays for long arrays with
>>> empty space and linear arrays for those which are compact. What is
>>> wrong with that?
>>
>> Why no implementation does it?
>
> I can't parse that sentence, sorry.

Why no current implementation uses sparse arrays as the representation
of (some) vectors? Or does any?

If no implementation does a particular thing, then perhaps it's not
a wise choice to do. Leaving room for it only reduces programmer
confidence and encourages them to rely on common practice instead
of on standard guarantees.

-- 
   __("<         Marcin Kowalczyk
   \__/       qrczak@xxxxxxxxxx
    ^^     http://qrnik.knm.org.pl/~qrczak/