From: Steven Jenkins <steven.jenkins@...>
Date: 2006-12-02T00:48:45+09:00
Subject: Re: [ ruby-Bugs-7001 ] Determinant Problem in Matrix.rb

Nex3 wrote:
> Given that the typical way of calculating determinants involves no
> division at all, it seems odd that I would be required to use floats to
> get the correct result. In addition, the documentation of the Matrix
> class doesn't say that one should use floats... in fact, the example
> given for Matrix#determinant is done with integers.

Just out of curiosity, are you trying to actually calculate something
useful with determinants? The determinant is a powerful theoretical
concept, but virtually useless computationally. That is, whatever you
can do using a determinant can likely be done faster and more accurately
using some other technique.

For example, solving a linear system using Cramer's rule is an order of
magnitude more work than Gaussian elimination.

Steve