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Generic algorithms

Name: Anonymous 2008-11-28 11:31

Implement a single function that takes two arguments and returns the bigger of the two. Assume you don't know the type of the  arguments and you don't know if the types can be compared. Assume that if a type can be compared, it will always be implemented by following a single standard. Use the latest standard of your language. Write the simplest program
that will pass an integer 1(one) and a float 1.1(one point one) into the function and write the result to standard output.

Post the compiler you used, the code and the result.
Write what will happen if the max function is called with broken syntax (I'm looking at you C macros).
Write what will happen if the objects of a type can't be compared.

I'll start with C and C++.
Compiler: gcc 4.3.2 20081105 (Red Hat 4.3.2-7)
#include <iostream>
template<class F>
F& max(F& a, F& b) { return (a < b) ? b : a; }
int main() { std::cout << max(1, 1.1) << '\n'; }

Results: Compile time error:
max.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
max.cpp:6: error: no matching function for call to ‘max(int, double)’

Bad syntax: Standard compile-time error
No comparison: Standard compile-time error about undefined operator<

#define max(a, b) (less(a, b) ? b : a)
#include <stdio.h>
int less(int a, int b) { return a < b; }
int main() { printf("%f\n", max(1, 1.1)); }

Result: Bad output
1.000000
Bad syntax: Depends on the error in the syntax. Can either compile and cause undefined behaviour or fail at compile time with strange syntax errors.
No comparison: Standard compile-time error about an undefined function.

Name: Anonymous 2008-12-04 0:57

>>102
Okay, that's it you just angered an expert programmer here. Yes hi, okay, hello. So suppose you passed in "0000000000001" and 100 to this function. It would seem that your code will give an undefined result. Additionally, your comparisons seem to be based solely on the size of the data type, and not so much as the logical magnitude of the values being compared.
The heart of the problem is type conversion, being able to convert input types to a type which can be comparable. The supplementary problem relates to some sort of reflection/RTTI mechanism available in the language, in order to return the correct type based upon the input.

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