From: Michael Ulm Date: 2007-07-19T17:17:07+09:00 Subject: Re: The Pebble in the Ruby Shoe Steven Lumos wrote: > SonOfLilit writes: >> I disagree. Zero based arrays are natural to a mathematician, and >> programmers tend to be mathematicians. > > No! This is a systematic lie used to defend a convention that was > adopted for purely practical reasons. It's like claiming that > segmented memory is more natural to mathematicians. Mathematicians > and even Computer Scientists consistently use 1, e.g. > > x_1, x_2, ..., x_n > I've worked for over 10 years as a mathematician on a university level. I've met and worked with mathematicians from all continents except Antarctica and from more nations that I care to count. So, I think I speak with some authority when I say, that there is a definitive consensus amongst a vast majority of mathematicians concerning this issue, and this is that they don't care all that much. For a mathematician, the start of a sequence isn't that interesting anyway. They much more care about the other end at infinity. Personally, when doing mathematics my sequences start with x_0, unless they don't. Regards, Michael -- Michael Ulm R&D Team ISIS Information Systems Austria tel: +43 2236 27551-542, fax: +43 2236 21081 e-mail: michael.ulm@isis-papyrus.com Visit our Website: www.isis-papyrus.com --------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail is only intended for the recipient and not legally binding. Unauthorised use, publication, reproduction or disclosure of the content of this e-mail is not permitted. This email has been checked for known viruses, but ISIS accepts no responsibility for malicious or inappropriate content. ---------------------------------------------------------------