is there a unifying comparable class to which all primitive

Question

is there a unifying comparable class to which all primitive numbers belong or better yet one on which you can use mathematical operators

Shawn · Answer

I think `Number` is the closest thing to what you re asking for

Shawn · Answer

It might not necessarily define operators though

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

unfortunately i can t compare any primitive number types to Number tried

Shawn · Answer

it looks like `Int` for example extends `Number` and implements `Comparable lt Int gt ` so I don t think there s another intermediate type that does the same

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

I m making a `RestrictedNumber` delegate s starting with `RestrictedInt` and it d be nice to not have to make a `compareTo ` for every number type

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

yep that s what i saw myself and just wondered if I was missing something

karelpeeters · Answer

I m going to keep saying this but you can t do anything with a Number You can t write code to compare them you can t do write code to do math with them

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

it s such a shame

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

but it s not a big deal

karelpeeters · Answer

Well it s a fundamental problem they could t have fixed that

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

I m intrigued What makes it fundamental

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

because the bit twiddling doesn t work out you d always have to convert one

karelpeeters · Answer

Let s say I have a `Fraction Number` and a `BigInteger Number` and I add them Now what Neither fits into the other In general there might be tens of Number implementations that then all need to be math compatible with each other

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

so why can t we add ints to longs or floats to doubles

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

or booleans to booleans

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

scratch the last one that s dumb

karelpeeters · Answer

I m not even talking about the bit fiddling side or whatever just the polymorphism part

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

ah

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

i just always found it strange that kotlin didn t include the autocasting to larger types like int gt long int gt double etc

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

because you don t lose or corrupt any data doing that

karelpeeters · Answer

Yeah that s kind of annoying I agree with you there When I say that this is a fundamental problem I mean there s nothing you can write in a function like `fun add x Number y Number Number` that makes it work out

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

yeah and therefore you can t either create your own number types easily either you can do it it s just tedious to make universally operable and comparable

karelpeeters · Answer

it s impossible there s no way to know all other implementations in advance

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

what s impossible making a generic comparable and operable number type

karelpeeters · Answer

Yes

Hullaballoonatic · Answer

yeah it seems that way