Create stop-watch in Rexx.
Rexx computes ... as we do
What value is 1/0! + 1/1! + 1/2! + ... + 1/N! for N >= 0?
This task coheres with the calculation of the base of the natural logarithm, named in honor of Leonard Euler
e. The TEXTBOOK
function describes a recommendation from textbooks.
/* TEXTBOOK internal function */
TEXTBOOK: procedure
Sum = 1; Item = 1
do J = 1 to ARG(1)
Item = Item / J; Sum = Sum + Item
end
return Sum
|
But man doesn't compute sums as TEXTBOOK. The value of
the fourth item (i.e. 1/(3!)) is 0.166 ... 67 with
thousand significant digits. This value can be written by the COPIES built-in function as the result of the
expression 0.1 || COPIES(6, 998) || 7.
We usually calculate this sum using
the algorithm which the MAN function describes (B. Higman:
A comparative study of programming languages, MacDonald & Co.
Ltd. 1970).
/* MAN internal function */
MAN: procedure
Numerator = 1; Denominator = 1
do J = 1 to ARG(1)
Numerator = Numerator * J + 1
Denominator = Denominator * J
end
return Numerator / Denominator
|
For N = 100 the DUEL program writes (on PC,
processor
6x86MX-PR233, 32MB RAM, demo of Quercus Systems' Personal REXX for Windows
95):
0.380000 sec
0.060000 sec
|
It is a good idea to
consider in the course of a solution of a numeric task that "Rexx computes in the same way as we do". It holds for the basic arithmetic operators + (addition), - (subtraction), * (multiplication), / (division), % (integer
division - the mnemonic: the operator of division has only one char, i.e. / or %), // (remainder, i.e. divide and return only the remainder). For any number
A and any number
B <> 0 it follows that
A + 0 = (A % B) * B + (A // B).
Numeric comparison
The numeric comparison operators are =, >, <, <> (synonymous with \= and ><),
>= (synonymous with \<), <= (synonymous with \>). Throughout the language,
the
not character,¬, is synonymous with the backslash (\). Assume a execution of the numeric digit D
instructions (the default value of the D expression is 9)
and the numeric fuzz F instruction (the
default of the F expression is 0). Expressions D, F must result in a
nonnegative whole number D > F >= 0. A comparing of numeric values is
effected by subtracting the
two numbers under a precision of D - F and then comparing the result with
0.
| If the result is |
then the comparison with the operators |
is |
| negative |
<, <=, <> |
TRUE |
| zero |
>=, <=, = |
TRUE |
| positive |
>, >=, <> |
TRUE |
The comparison operators return the value 1 if the result of the comparison
is TRUE, or 0 otherwise.
The values of Exp1 and Exp2 (see the DUEL program) are not equal.
The say Exp1 = Exp2 instruction displays 0 and say Exp1 - Exp2 displays 0.000 ... 04 (with 999 zeros). But the instructions:
numeric fuzz 1; say Exp1 = Exp2 displays 1.
Another number system
Humans usually use decimal, or base 10, numbers. When dealing with computers, it is frequently convenient to use bases 2 or 16. The following expression can be used for building a trivial hexadecimal calculator:
D2X(X2D(Hex1) + X2D(Hex2))
It computes the sum of two hexadecimal numbers stored in the Hex1 and Hex2
variables. The X2D built-in function returns the decimal
representation of a given hexadecimal string and the D2X returns the
representation of a decimal number in hexadecimal form. Simirally the
expression
X2B(D2X(X2D(B2X(Bin1)) + X2D(B2X(Bin2))))
computes the sum of two binary values in the Bin1, Bin2 variables.
We can want to remove leading zeros in binary numbers.
The STRIP(string, option, character) built-in function returns the
input string with specified
leading (option "L"), trailing (option "T") or leading and trailing
(option "B") characters removed.
Exercise 2
Write the function R2D (Roman to decimal) allowing decryption of
the following enigma: Edgar Allan Poe (Born: MDCCCIX - Died: MDCCCXLIX).
Power
The ** (power) operator raises a number to a power, which may be positive,
negative, or 0. The power must be a whole number. If negative, the
absolute value of the power is used, and
then the result is inverted (divided into 1) - for Z < 0 and X <> 0,
X
Z = 1 / X
ABS(Z). In Rexx the power is
calculated by the process of left-to-right binary reduction:
/* Algorithm of exponentation (X ** Z) */
Power = 1
BinZ = STRIP(X2B(D2X(Z)), "L", 0)
do J = LENGTH(BinZ) to 1 by -1
if SUBSTR(BinZ, J, 1) then Power = Power * X
X = X * X
end
say "X ** Z =" Power
|
I programmed the internal POWER function that follows. For values: X = 15; Z = 959; numeric digits 1128; and AS/400 model 310 the interpretation of POWER(X, Z) was faster (13.673 sec) than the interpretation of X ** Z (26.945000 sec).
/* POWER internal procedure */
POWER: procedure
X = ARG(1); Z = ARG(2); Pwr = 1
do forever
if Z // 2 then Pwr = Pwr * X
Z = Z % 2
if Z = 0 then return Pwr
X = X * X
end
|
I presented this fact in my email to REXXLIST (the subject
Surprise for
REXXperts, 98/01/16 in
Archive of REXXLIST). The corresponding thread
(in the form of the table) from REXXLIST and comp.lang.rexx is very
intreresting. You can compare time of
the interpretation or run of the compiled programs in different
implementations of Rexx and in different environments (computers - PC,
workstation, midi and mainframe; systems - IBM, Microsoft, Sun).
| Computer |
System |
Rexx |
** |
POWER |
Thanks for information go to |
| mainframe IBM |
CMS |
REXX370 compiler |
0.0013 |
0.0017 |
Plungjan M. |
| mainframe IBM |
TSO |
REXX370 compiler |
0.0013 |
0.0018 |
Plungjan M. |
| PC |
Windows NT 4.0 |
Object REXX 6.0 |
0.2100 |
0.2800 |
Stuurman J. |
| mainframe IBM |
CMS |
REXX370 interpret |
0.2349 |
0.1694 |
Plungjan M. |
| mainframe IBM |
TSO |
REXX370 interpret |
0.2884 |
0.1520 |
Plungjan M. |
| PC Pentium 166 |
OS/2 Warp 4 |
Classic Rexx |
0.3700 |
0.2500 |
Kazimirchik V. |
| PC Pentium 90 |
Linux |
REXX/imc |
0.4583 |
0.5062 |
Gurski A.F. |
| PC 486/33 |
OS/2 Warp 4 |
Object REXX |
1.3000 |
1.8600 |
Vermo B. |
| Sun Sparc 2 |
Solaris 2.5.1 |
REXX/imc 1.6d |
1.8500 |
2.1000 |
Collier I. |
| PC |
Windows NT 4.0 |
Regina |
faster |
slower |
Saxton J.M. |
Numeric giants and dwarfs
The mass of the Earth is about 6E+24 kg and the mass of an atom of hydrogen is about 2E-24 g. For both large and small numbers some form of exponential
notation is useful, both to make numbers more readable, and to reduce execution time and
storage requirements.
Assume execution of the numeric digits D instruction. If the number of places needed
before the decimal point exceeds D, or the number leading zeros after the point exceeds
D and number of places after the point exceeds twice D, exponential form will be used.
Note
Ian Collier demonstrates (read
Exponential notation, with Ian Collier's reply) that
there is no difference between this definition and the definition in manuals or textbooks (M. F. Cowlishaw: The REXX Language - A Practical Approach to Programming, 1985; REXX/400 Reference, SC24-5664-00, IBM Corp. 1994).
Now we return to program DUEL with
... Exp1 = TEXTBOOK(N);
... Exp2 = MAN(N); ...
The value of
Exp1 - Exp2 is 0.000 ... 04 with 999 zeros.
The say Exp1 - Exp2 instruction displays 4E-999 after a execution of
the instructions:
Subtract = Exp1 - Exp2; D = 9
numeric digits D; say Subtract + 0
|
We must add zero (multiple by 1 etc.) for using new setting accuracy.
Exercise 3
What are values of
D when
numeric digits D; say Subtract + 0 displays
4E-999?
Bernoulli...
The exponent of a number expressed in exponential notation
may have up to nine digits only. In 1728 Daniel Bernoulli proved that
e is equal to the limit of
(1 + 1/N)N
as N goes to infinity. The program with the maximal value of N:
/* BERNOULLI computes e, 1. version */
numeric digits 50; N = 999999999
say "e =" (1 + 1/N) ** N
|
displays e = 2.7182818270... For larger N the program is terminated with "syntax" error (Invalid whole number).
But the program:
/* BERNOULLI computes e, 2. version */
numeric digits 50; Z = 1E+40
X = 1 + 1 / Z; say "e =" POWER(X, Z)
|
displays e = 2.71828182845904523560287...
Exponential notation is useful for writing a giant number. Examples follow in exercises.
Exercise 4
Epocha (the old Czech journal, No. 3, 1905):
By only three
digits we can write the giant number: nine to the ninth to the ninth.
Number digits in this number is between 369 690 000 and 369 790 000.
How many digits has 9 ** (9 ** 9)?
Exercise 5
Number of black and white photos 10 x 15 cm, created
by black and white dots 0.1 x 0.1 mm
is 21500000. This number is long 2.3 km. Well, but what things will in
the photographs?
Solutions of the excercises
Exercise 1
/* STOP-WATCH program */
say "Enter = Start"; pull Enter
call TIME "R"; say "Go! ..."
say "Enter = Stop"; pull Enter
say "Time:" TIME("R") "sec"
|
Exercise 2
Function R2D (Roman to Decimal) can solve this enigma. For
MDCCCIX (or mDccCIx) returns 1809 and for MDCCCXLIX
returns 1849.
/* R2D - Roman to Decimal - internal function */
R2D: procedure
parse upper arg Roman .
RtoD.I = 1; RtoD.V = 5; RtoD.X = 10; RtoD.L = 50
RtoD.C = 100; RtoD.D = 500; RtoD.M = 1000
Decimal = 0; Rdigit = LEFT(Roman, 1)
Ddigit = RtoD.Rdigit
do J = 2 to LENGTH(Roman)
Rdigit = SUBSTR(Roman, J, 1); Next = RtoD.Rdigit
if Next > Ddigit then Decimal = Decimal - Ddigit
else Decimal = Decimal + Ddigit
Ddigit = Next
end
return Decimal + Ddigit
|
Exercise 3
From 2 * D + 1 <= 999 follows D <= 499. I.e. the minimal value of D is 1
and maximal is 499.
Exercise 4
say 9 ** (9 ** 9) displays
4.28124773...E+369693099
(i.e. 369693100 digits). But a predecessor of this instruction can't be the
numeric digits D instruction, where D < 9.
Exercise 5
Eduard Fuchs answers in his textbook Set Theory (UJEP Brno
1974, in Czech):
There will portraits of all dead people and people who will born in
the future, their
photos during different stages of their life; all scientific works and
all art productions
and their
translations into all languages; logarithmic table and photos
which will be sent from space probes, scores of symphonies don't exist yet
and long ago destroyed buildings, etc. The major part will a bare unknown
noise.
|
Notes and Acknowledgments.
For translation this article I used my emails in
Archive of REXXLIST
(
Surprise for REXXperts 98/01/16,
Exponential notation 98/10/05,
How many digits has 9**(9**9) 98/10/20 and 98/10/23) and
M. F. Cowlishaw: The REXX Language - A Practical Approach to Programming
Prentice-Hall, inc., Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey 1985
REXX/400 Reference SC24-5664-00, IBM Corp. 1994
Helps from
Personal REXX for Windows(tm) Version 3.50, Quercus Systems
I would like to express deep appreciation to Gerard Schildberger. He was especially helpful in pointing out misprints and errors.
