Sunday, May 18, 2014

Geek Clock: They can do Better


Let's start at 1 o'clock and work our way around in a clockwise fashion.
  • tan π/4 would be cleaner.
  • round(∏) is fine, but how about ⌊π⌋ instead?
  • Log 55 is ambiguous, misleading, and inexact--and who capitalizes a log function? Most people will assume the base is 10, except computer scientists might first think 2. But clearly this is intended to be natural log. So, why not say what you mean? ln 55.  For precision, this could be wrapped in a floor function. So, my suggestion: ⌊ln 55⌋
  • 16/2 is boring. How about 2instead?
  • Similarly, 3x3 would be better-written 32.
  • g? Do they mean 9.8 m/s/s? How about 128?
  • For 11, is that 0b? 06? Make it clear: 0xb or b_16. Add a leading zero if you want--I don't care.
  • 11002 is fine for 12.