Re: Code for converting between Elisp and Calc floats

[Stefan Monnier]

>> As for the feature itself, I'm not sure whether I like it.
>> Could someone explain exactly what's the rationale behind this
>> (e.g. a typical use case), what alternatives were considered, etc...?
> Vincent explained this to me, but I expect he'll come along and do a
> better job explaining than I can.

Is he reading this thread?

>> E.g. an "obvious" alternative would be to add builtin "big floats" via
>> libgmp or some such.
> Using libgmp in Emacs has been discussed in the past, but as I recall
> hasn't had much support.

It hasn't had much support indeed, mostly for lack of interest
in bignums.  But if we decide bignums deserve some C code, then maybe
libgmp would be a good idea.  Then again, without knowing the whys and
hows, it's hard to tell.


        Stefan