[PD] (breaking symbols) was Re: find a list of numbers in a text file

[Mathieu Bouchard]

On Sun, 4 Sep 2011, Jonathan Wilkes wrote:

>> From: Mathieu Bouchard <matju at artengine.ca>
>> [max] does output the greater of two numbers.
>
> Ha!  Then my _misunderstanding_ is that [max 5] = "make 5 the maximum value that can 
> come out of the outlet".  I have to open the help file every time I use [min] [max] to see 
> which is the real behavior, and which the figment of my imagination.

It's the same max and min as in math textbooks and as in a bunch of 
programming languages and libraries.

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/algorithm/max/
http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/ref/Max.html
http://developer.gnome.org/glib/2.29/glib-Standard-Macros.html#MAX:CAPS
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/number_min.htm
http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Enumerable.html#M001504
http://php.net/manual/en/function.max.php
etc

I don't recall ever seeing any language or library swap the meaning of min 
and max. It seems to be very standard.

  _______________________________________________________________________
| Mathieu Bouchard ---- tél: +1.514.383.3801 ---- Villeray, Montréal, QC