User talk:Eric119

Hi! I am glad someone filled in the things I was missing on the Calculus:Functions page, but I had a few questions about things I wasn't sure about. I might have modified some of them, but I wasn't sure why you did what you did, so I thought I might ask first:


 * In the definition of a function you referred to the formal definition of function (set of ordered pairs). Most people would completely miss the point, unless we went in more detail, which I don't think is wise.  What do you think?
 * "in the world of real numbers" is another (less) obscure reference. Anyone familar with complex numbers would understand what was meant without the parenthetical clause, but someone who wasn't familar wouldn't care.  Of course, that is no reason not to be precise, so leaving it in would still be appropriate.
 * In the example of adding, subtracting, etc. the functions f and g, you wrote "def" before the subtraction example. Why?  What do you mean?
 * I like the continuity section. I was going to wait until limits to introduce it, but you tied it in with graphing effectively.
 * I had left out a * 0 = 0 intentionally, since it is not an axiom of field theory (it can be proved easily). Of course, I never titled the list as "axioms of field theory", but rather as arithematic truths -- and a * 0 = 0 is certainly true.  Anyone reading it not familar with field theory would not notice one way or another.  So I am split in whether I think it should be included or not.  On second thought, the whole Algebra section is mostly redundant -- the only commonly missed fact is the distributive property (anyone who doesn't know a + 0 = a or a * 1 = a shouldn't be taking Calculus).

Conincidentally, my name happens to be Eric as well.

-- IntMan

Re: functions as ordered pairs -- Perhaps you're right. That little bit of information isn't necessary, as functions are rarely specified by giving a set of ordered pairs.

Re: complex numbers -- I hope people trying to take calculus have already been introduced to imaginary numbers in algebra or trig. Also, I remember that there is one method for solving differential equations that involves complex numbers (though I'm uncertain of the details), so if we think people won't know/remember them we should cover them in a review section (unless we are not covering that, but since there is a major section "Advanced Calculus" I assume we will be.)

Re: "def" -- It's just a typo. I meant nothing by it.

Re: continuity -- Thank you.

Re: a*0 -- Well, I thought a * 0 = 0 was an axiom, but apparently I misremembered. I definately agree that it should be removed.

Eric119 20:47 22 Jul 2003 (UTC)

About the Hello, World! Page, Sorry, I was being rude. Sometimes I do get carried away. I was probably just in a bad mood at the time. For example: using endl is just a preference because I don't like it when I write a program, and nothing shows up on the screen until the program exits. The return 0, is the only thing I really have a problem with. Point: You are right about the not having to return 0. Counter-Point: But since it is standard pratice not to rely on the system to free all of your ram you've allocated, should it also be right to rely on the system to return the 0?

Josh:Mrquick 23:13 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Well, I suppose that's a style issue, too. The implicit "return 0;" is guaranteed according to the C++ standard. You could say it's better to explictly state that there were no errors. Or you could say that by default we assume the program did not encounter errors.

Eric119 18:59 30 Jul 2003 (UTC)

About the calculus page: it didn't exist and was showing in red. See the Staff lounge. Apparently the database got confused and marked it as a nonexistent page with a history. Thanks for reverting it. Geoffrey 23:31, 11 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Hi Eric, sorry I didn't realize before that you've put up a new puzzle. I've moved it to our new subcategories under 'Arithmetic Puzzles'. Thomas