Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk wrote:
> R5RS tries to make exactness an independent property from the value.
> IMHO it goes too far in allowing inexact arguments to certain
> operations.
>
> Let's consider R5RS operations defined on integers which might be
> inexact (I think these are all):
> A. odd? even? integer->char
> C. gcd lcm
> D. numerator denominator

Yes, these are problematic in that the answer is useless.

> B. quotient remainder modulo

But where's the problem here? The answer will necessarily be
approximate, but should still be useful. Consider the per capita income
of the USA in whole dollars, which is the quotient of two inexact
integers.

> In no case "an integer number, known exactly or not" or "a rational
> number, known exactly or not" is a sensible domain for an arithmetic
> function.

It's entirely reasonable for arithmetic functions like division and
addition. What's the total population of the EEC countries? What's the
density of carbon? These kinds of questions can be answered reasonably
and practically with inexact integers.
--
Bradd W. Szonye
http://www.szonye.com/bradd