> Built-in support for negative bases would encourage further use of Python > in math research (specifically, representation theory). For reference, > Mathematica recently added support for negative base conversions. > > Negative bases allow the unique representation of both positive and > negative integers without use of a sign. For example, "-3" in decimal > equals, in base -2, "1101" (-3 = 1*(-2)^3 + 1*(-2)^2 + 0*(-2)^1 + 1*(-2)^0). > It has been suggested that this property makes negative bases a more natural > representation for integers than positive bases. There is more detailed > information on the subject in The Art of Computer Programming Vol. 2. Only a mathematician could call this "more natural"... For most of us, this is difficult to understand (e.g. the suggestion was made that int(s,x) == -int(s,-x), which isn't true) and there are no practical uses. As most of Python's users lack the sophistication to understand this, I'd rather not introduce this patch -- when I see a negative base somewhere, it's much more likely that it's a bug in the code than an advanced use of negative bases... That's a polite but firm -1. --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://dinsdale.python.org/~guido/)
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