Re: Elisp manual, node "Comparison of Numbers"

[Lennart Borgman]

David Kastrup wrote:
> > >   
> > >       
> > Yes, in a sense you are right. I should have expressed my self a bit
> > differently, but I am afraid you missed the point. The crucial thing
> > is that you divide the difference with the "distance" from 0 to
> > construct the number you compare to the fuzz factor.
> >     
>
> In which case, the relative distance from 0 is 1.0 for _any_ nonzero
> number.  And your point was?
>   
This of course.
>   
> > It seems reasonable to me but breaks down in the special case where
> > one of the numbers are 0 (and the other is not).
> >     
>
> Relative measures don't work when comparing with 0.  But 0.0 can
> pretty much only come about by cancellation, and then comparison is
> unreliable anyway.  It might be worth pointing out, but it certainly
> is not a remedy to rechristen a relative measure to absolute.
>   
I guess that is true. So maybe it is better to ask Drew what he was 
going to compare so we can construct a better measurement.