Some issues about numerical constants

[shigma]

built_in_numeric_constants defines some numerical constants for wolfram language, but here are some minor issues:

1. Infinity and Indeterminate seems numerical constants to me, for they have mathematical meaning and we can just do any mathematical operations on them.
2. MachinePrecision seems a little bit strange compared with other constants. It may be just have a numerical value. If accepted, should some other built-in symbols with numerical values (including but not limited to numbers defined here) be accepted too?

[batracos]

1. All the symbols now in built_in_numeric_constants are NumericQ. Neither Infinity nor Indeterminate satisfy that. I see your point though. What do the other people think?
2. MachinePrecision is a numerical constant, $MachinePrecision and other symbols is that page are numbers.

In[21]:= Through[{NumberQ, NumericQ}[$MachinePrecision]]
Out[21]= {True, True}

In[22]:= Through[{NumberQ, NumericQ}[MachinePrecision]]
Out[22]= {False, True}

[shigma]

You've got a point here.

@chere005 @ViktorQvarfordt any ideas?

[chere005]

I think Infinity and Indeterminate make sense in the same way as MachinePrecision. Perhaps calling these built_in_numeric_constants is the issue, and they should just be called built_in_math_constants or built_in_constants. I approach this more from the angle how do I want my code to look and I would like some visual identifier for these in the same way I would want an identifier for Pi

[shigma]

1. All the symbols now in built_in_numeric_constants are NumericQ. Neither Infinity nor Indeterminate satisfy that. I see your point though. What do the other people think?
2. MachinePrecision is a numerical constant, $MachinePrecision and other symbols is that page are numbers.

In[21]:= Through[{NumberQ, NumericQ}[$MachinePrecision]]
Out[21]= {True, True}

In[22]:= Through[{NumberQ, NumericQ}[MachinePrecision]]
Out[22]= {False, True}

If this is your definition for numeric constants, I should be removed from the list because NumberQ[I] returns True. Generally, I approve the idea that a rule should be set so that we can easily keep pace with every version of Mathematica, however !NumberQ[#] && NumericQ[#]& may be not qualified enough.

@chere005 any ideas?

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(Sorry, there's some problem with my browser ...)

[chere005]

1. All the symbols now in built_in_numeric_constants are NumericQ. Neither Infinity nor Indeterminate satisfy that. I see your point though. What do the other people think?
2. MachinePrecision is a numerical constant, $MachinePrecision and other symbols is that page are numbers.

In[21]:= Through[{NumberQ, NumericQ}[$MachinePrecision]]
Out[21]= {True, True}

In[22]:= Through[{NumberQ, NumericQ}[MachinePrecision]]
Out[22]= {False, True}

If this is your definition for numeric constants, I should be removed from the list because NumberQ[I] returns True. Generally, I approve the idea that a rule should be set so that we can easily keep pace with every version of Mathematica, however !NumberQ[#] && NumericQ[#]& may be not qualified enough.

@chere005 any ideas?

(Sorry, there's some problem with my browser ...)

I think my comment from 2 days ago covers this. I don't think we need to decide based on NumberQ or NumericQ but rather which symbols we want highlighted similarly because its convenient and helps understand the code

[batracos]

Let's move Infinity and Indeterminate then.