RE: [boost] Boost.MathConstants: Review

From: Paul A. Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-04-23 12:26:53

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Maddock [mailto:John_Maddock_at_[hidden]]
> Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2001 12:02 PM
> To: INTERNET:boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: [boost] Boost.MathConstants: Review
>
>
> How does this library interact with the POSIX standard, see
> http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/math.h.html for a
> listing, these don't cut and paste well :-(
>
> I assume that this library provides a superset of these values?

All the POSIX constants are only double precision,

there are only a few of them, and I think I include all of them
(I'll check this).

math.h - mathematical declarations

 header provides for the following constants.
The values are of type double and are accurate within the precision of the
double type.
M_E  Value of e
M_LOG2E  Value of log2e
M_LOG10E  Value of log10e
M_LN2  Value of loge2
M_LN10  Value of loge10
M_PI  Value of
M_PI_2 Value of pi/2
M_PI_4 Value of pi/4
M_1_PI Value of 1/pi
M_2_PI Value of 2/pi
M_2_SQRTPI Value of 2/pi
M_SQRT2 Value of sqrt(2)
M_SQRT1_2 Value of 1/sqrt(2)

I personally don't like the naming - namespaces allow much nicer names.

We could use these as check, but only double precision.

http://dlmf.nist.gov is much more relevant - but we are a bit ahead in
tackling the much simpler problem of constants.

Long term, I believe BOOST needs the functions that they plan to provide.

Introduction
Undoubtedly you are familiar with Abramowitz and Stegun's, Handbook of
Mathematical Functions (with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables),
first published by the National Bureau of Standards in 1964, and still in
print.
A project is underway at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(the heir to NBS) to develop a replacement for the Handbook. This will be a
major new mathematical reference source on the World Wide Web for special
functions and their applications.

About the project
For more information about the project, see the Project web pages; including
Upcoming Events and What's New!
Digital Library of Mathematical Functions Mockup
Finally, we present the Mockup of NIST's Digital Library of Mathematical
Functions. This mockup gives an idea of the current ideas about the design
and organization of the new Digital Library; these ideas are, of course,
subject to change. Content only is only available in a few places -- it is
only a mockup. Give it a look, and give us your responses.
Starting points:
Table of Contents
Search for keywords.
Help about the site.

Attached in html.

Paul