Arithmetic

As a computational platform for learning discrete mathematics, at the core of disco is of course the ability to compute with numbers. However, unlike many other languages, disco does not support real (aka floating-point) numbers at all—they are not typically needed for discrete mathematics, and omitting them simplifies the language quite a bit. To compensate, however, disco has sophisticated built-in support for rational numbers.

Basic arithmetic

To start out, you can use disco as a simple calculator. For example, try entering the following expressions, or others like them, at the Disco> prompt:

  • 2 + 5
  • 5 - 8
  • 5 * (-2)
  • (1 + 2)(3 + 4)
  • 2 ^ 5
  • 2 ^ 5000
  • 4 .- 2
  • 2 .- 4

The last two expressions use the saturating subtraction operator, .-, which takes two numeric operands, \(a\) and \(b\), and returns \(a - b\) if \(a > b\), and \(0\) otherwise. Note that unlike regular subtraction, the result of a saturating subtraction will always be a natural number.

Also notice that it is not always necessary to write * for multiplication: as is standard mathematical notation, we may often omit it, as in (1 + 2)(3 + 4), which means the same as (1 + 2) * (3 + 4). (For precise details on when the asterisk may be omitted, see the discussion in the section on functions.) Notice also that integers in disco may be arbitrarily large.

Now try these:

  • 3/7 + 2/5
  • 2 ^ (-5)

The results may come as a bit of a surprise if you are already used to other languages such as Java or Python, which would yield a floating-point (i.e. real) number; as mentioned before, disco does not support floating-point numbers. However, rational numbers can still be entered using decimal notation. Try these expressions as well:

  • 2.3 + 1.6
  • 1/5.0
  • 1/7.0

Disco automatically picks either fractional or decimal notation for the output, depending on whether any values with decimal points were used in the input (for example, compare 1/5 and 1/5.0, or 1.0/5). Note that 1/7.0 results in 0.[142857]; can you figure out what the brackets indicate?

The standard floor and ceiling operations are built-in:

Disco> floor (17/3)
5
Disco> ceiling (17/3)
6

Just for fun, disco also supports standard mathematical notation for these operations via Unicode characters:

Disco> ⌊ 17/3 ⌋
5
Disco> ⌈ 17/3 ⌉
6

Integer division, which rounds down to the nearest integer, can be expressed using //:

Disco> 5 // 2
2
Disco> (-5) // 2
-3

x // y is always equivalent to floor (x/y), but is provided as a separate operator for convenience.

The counterpart to integer division is mod, which gives the remainder when the first number is divided by the second:

Disco> 5 mod 2
2
Disco> (2^32) mod 7
4
Disco> (2^32) % 7

The % operator may also be used as a synonym for mod.

Finally, the abs function is provided for computing absolute value:

Disco> abs 5
5
Disco> abs (-5)
5

Advanced arithmetic

Disco also provides a few more advanced arithmetic operators which you might not find built in to other languages.

  • The divides operator can be used to test whether one number evenly divides another. Try evaluating these expressions:

    • 2 divides 20
    • 2 divides 21
    • (-2) divides 20
    • 2 divides (-20)
    • 7 divides (2^32 - 4)
    • (1/2) divides (3/2)
    • (1/5) divides (3/2)
    • 1 divides 10
    • 0 divides 10
    • 10 divides 0
    • 0 divides 0

    The last three expressions may be surprising, but follow directly from the definition: a divides b is true if there is an integer k such that a*k = b. For example, there is no k such that 0*k = 10, so 0 divides 10 is false.

    Note that a vertical line is often used to denote divisibility, as in \(3 \mid 21\), but disco does not support this notation, since the vertical line is used for other things (and besides, it is typically not a good idea to use a visually symmetric operator for a nonsymmetric relation).

  • The choose operator can be used to compute binomial coefficients. For example, 5 choose 2 is the number of ways to select two things out of five.

  • The factorial function is available via standard mathematical notation:

    Disco> 20!
2432902008176640000

  • A square root (sqrt) function is provided which rounds the result down to the nearest integer (remember that disco does not support arbitrary real numbers).

    Disco> sqrt (299^2 + 1)
299
Disco> sqrt (299^2 .- 1)
298