Re: [PATCH 3/3] Introduce $(compare ...) for numerical comparison

[Jouke Witteveen]

On Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 8:39 PM Jouke Witteveen <j.witteveen@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 2:04 PM Jouke Witteveen <j.witteveen@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Numbers can come from $(words ...), automatic variables such as
> > $(MAKELEVEL), from environment variables, or from shell output such as
> > through $(shell expr ...).  The $(compare ...) function allows
> > conditional evaluation controlled by numerical variables.
> >
> > * NEWS: Announce this feature.
> > * doc/make.texi (Functions for Conditionals): Document 'compare'.
> > * src/function.c (func_compare): Create the 'compare' built-in function.
> > * tests/scripts/functions/compare: Test the 'compare' built-in function.
> > ---
> >
> > This is a cleaned-up and documented version of a proposal submitted a
> > year ago. The interface was conceived by Edward Welbourne and myself.
> > Personally, I would not introduce mathematical operators to make, but
> > given that numbers are a thing and they do pop up in variables, a
> > comparison function makes sense to me.
> >
> > Thanks for considering!
> > - Jouke
>
> I would still be interested in seeing this patch series I sent two
> months ago considered. I am not in a rush: this is just a friendly
> reminder.
>
> Regards,
> - Jouke

Another friendly reminder. Four months have passed since I sent this
patch series. If there is anything I can do to advance it, please let
me know.

I would like to emphasize that I do not think it is a good idea to
extend the proposed functionality any further. Integer arithmetic with
`signed long`s is the preferred style in Posix shells, making integers
far more prevalent than floats in the domain that Make operates in. As
for math-beyond-comparison, there is no obvious syntax for variadic
functions for non-commutative mathematical operations. For these
reasons, I think the current $(compare) proposal should be considered
on its own merit, without discussing possible extensions.

Regards,
- Jouke