Re: NUMERIC private methods?

On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 11:51:37PM -0300, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
> Robert Haas wrote:
> 
> > I think that's ridiculous.  You're basically arguing that numeric
> > doesn't offer meaningful advantages over float8, which flies in
> > the face of the fact that essentially every database application
> > I've ever seen uses numeric and I'm not sure I've ever seen one
> > using float8.  Nearly all database users prefer to store
> > quantities like currency units in a type that is guaranteed not to
> > lose precision.
> 
> I think it's reasonable to expose NumericVar and the supporting
> function prototypes in, say, numeric_internal.h; normal applications
> that just want to operate on numerics as today can just include
> numeric.h, and continue to be at arms-length of the implementation
> details, while code that wants to optimize operations further can
> use numeric_internal.h and be very aware that they are subject to
> heavy breakage if we ever feel a need to change the internal API.

While nothing can prevent negligence and pilot error, making it clear
by the name of the included header that breakable stuff is being used
seems like an excellent way to proceed.

Cheers,
David.
-- 
David Fetter  http://fetter.org/
Phone: +1 415 235 3778  AIM: dfetter666  Yahoo!: dfetter
Skype: davidfetter      XMPP: david.fetter@gmail.com

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