(r5rs.info.gz) Implementation restrictions
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6.2.3 Implementation restrictions
---------------------------------
Implementations of Scheme are not required to implement the whole tower
of subtypes given in section Numerical types, but they must
implement a coherent subset consistent with both the purposes of the
implementation and the spirit of the Scheme language. For example, an
implementation in which all numbers are real may still be quite useful.
Implementations may also support only a limited range of numbers of any
type, subject to the requirements of this section. The supported range
for exact numbers of any type may be different from the supported range
for inexact numbers of that type. For example, an implementation that
uses flonums to represent all its inexact real numbers may support a
practically unbounded range of exact integers and rationals while
limiting the range of inexact reals (and therefore the range of inexact
integers and rationals) to the dynamic range of the flonum format.
Furthermore the gaps between the representable inexact integers and
rationals are likely to be very large in such an implementation as the
limits of this range are approached.
An implementation of Scheme must support exact integers throughout the
range of numbers that may be used for indexes of lists, vectors, and
strings or that may result from computing the length of a list, vector,
or string. The `length', `vector-length', and `string-length'
procedures must return an exact integer, and it is an error to use
anything but an exact integer as an index. Furthermore any integer
constant within the index range, if expressed by an exact integer
syntax, will indeed be read as an exact integer, regardless of any
implementation restrictions that may apply outside this range.
Finally, the procedures listed below will always return an exact
integer result provided all their arguments are exact integers and the
mathematically expected result is representable as an exact integer
within the implementation:
+ - *
quotient remainder modulo
max min abs
numerator denominator gcd
lcm floor ceiling
truncate round rationalize
expt
Implementations are encouraged, but not required, to support exact
integers and exact rationals of practically unlimited size and
precision, and to implement the above procedures and the `/' procedure
in such a way that they always return exact results when given exact
arguments. If one of these procedures is unable to deliver an exact
result when given exact arguments, then it may either report a
violation of an implementation restriction or it may silently coerce
its result to an inexact number. Such a coercion may cause an error
later.
An implementation may use floating point and other approximate
representation strategies for inexact numbers.
This report recommends, but does not require, that the IEEE 32-bit and
64-bit floating point standards be followed by implementations that use
flonum representations, and that implementations using other
representations should match or exceed the precision achievable using
these floating point standards [IEEE].
In particular, implementations that use flonum representations must
follow these rules: A flonum result must be represented with at least
as much precision as is used to express any of the inexact arguments to
that operation. It is desirable (but not required) for potentially
inexact operations such as `sqrt', when applied to exact arguments, to
produce exact answers whenever possible (for example the square root of
an exact 4 ought to be an exact 2). If, however, an exact number is
operated upon so as to produce an inexact result (as by `sqrt'), and if
the result is represented as a flonum, then the most precise flonum
format available must be used; but if the result is represented in some
other way then the representation must have at least as much precision
as the most precise flonum format available.
Although Scheme allows a variety of written notations for numbers, any
particular implementation may support only some of them. For example,
an implementation in which all numbers are real need not support the
rectangular and polar notations for complex numbers. If an
implementation encounters an exact numerical constant that it cannot
represent as an exact number, then it may either report a violation of
an implementation restriction or it may silently represent the constant
by an inexact number.
Info Catalog
(r5rs.info.gz) Exactness
(r5rs.info.gz) Numbers
(r5rs.info.gz) Syntax of numerical constants
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