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Yep, the [numerical tower][1]. Python's int is a bignum, but in Scheme you even have rationals built in. There's a notion of which numeric values are "exact" a

Yep, the [numerical tower][1]. Python's int is a bignum, but in Scheme you even have rationals built in. There's a notion of which numeric values are "exact" and which ones are "inexact" (i.e. floating point). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_tower

eru 3y ago
I remember the numerical tower from Scheme. That was an interesting concept. (Though mathematically, you might want something with a more complicated structure than a tower. Eg p-adic numbers would sit below integers, next to rational numbers, but not below them.) Python has rational numbers in the standard library. They are easy to use there, too.
- waqf 3y ago
  Every rational number is a p-adic number (though not necessarily a p-adic integer, of course). So doesn't that mean p-adic numbers would be below rationals?
  - eru 3y ago
    Sure, maybe. My broader point is that the tower would branch at some point.