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During my math undergrad, the natural numbers were always assumed to start with 0, the rationale being that the natural numbers should enumerate the cardinaliti
by ths 15y ago
During my math undergrad, the natural numbers were always assumed to start with 0, the rationale being that the natural numbers should enumerate the cardinalities of all finite sets (the empty set, of course, being finite). I guess it depends on one's background.
- joe_the_user 15y agoThere wasn't such consistency in my math undergrad or masters programs. Further, the Peano postulates definitely involve the natural numbers starting at 1. Of course, most programmers don't have math degrees and I'd suspect that most people indeed think 1st element of an array starts at 1.