Huge numbers object

[Mokhtar]

Well, this object has been on my TODO list for some time now and I think it's about time I get it done. Practically it's because Joshtek has agreed to lend me a hand and take care of some of the SDK-side of things. So, I guess we'll start and see how things will go.

This is a mathematical object that performs arithmetic operations on huge numbers (pages of digits long). So far we see that it would work by defining named variables and assigning them values either as strings or from files then using them in expressions that return string or actions that store the result in a named variable. The variables can be accessed as strings or by segments (which can easily be converted to longs using MMF's conversions as long as no pricision is lost).

I'd like everybody that's interested to share their comments on whether this is a worthwhile extension to make, and if it is then how can this vision be improved?

[LIJI]

Heh, the funny thing i thought about something similer few days ago :P
My idea was to store the number as an array.
for example:
256 =
0 => 2
1 => 5
2 => 6
Then loop 2 arrays and do the mathamtical function.
some operators like divide (/) might be a little hard to do, but a most-have if you make an object like that <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Think about MMF being one of the only programs which can handle gogol (10^100) <img src="/center/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

[Jax]

I probably released the source code to Slint (My site is down but there is a link here) if that would be any help of you.

SLINT is a port of AM's Jamagic class of the same name. It stores the number as a character string which isn't too effective, however.

[Mokhtar]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

I've already implemented the basic operations including division, multiplication, exponentiation, and mod.

Doing floats shouldn't be too complicated, basically I'll just multiply by 10^x where x is the precision of the operations and then just format the string correctly to look like a floating point number. I don't think doing stuff like sin's and so would be meaningful though.

My implementation works quite fast for simple operations for numbers of 10,000 digits (not just 100). I'll take a look at SLINT and see if it helps.

I'd still like more thoughts about how the user will interact with the object though.

[Mokhtar]

I'm wondering though... your site, Jax, said that this extension is already available for MMF. Why would another one be needed though? Or am I missing something?

[Jax]

It has already been out for a while. If yours is quicker then there might still be a point to it?