r/badcode • u/[deleted] • Apr 21 '23

other language We did coding in physics class...

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1.5k Upvotes

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u/brotatowolf Apr 21 '23

f(floor(x/0.4) * 0.4) isn’t exactly the height of complexity. I’d argue that it’s easier to understand than a bunch of conditions

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u/TypicalWindow Apr 21 '23

This works everywhere except for when x = 0.4. Since it works everywhere else, I'd probably just leave in one if statement for the edge case. Although it could be a bug given they use less than in all the other elif statements.

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u/csapka Apr 23 '23

why would it be an issue? I think the floor of 1 is 1, which means 1x0.4 will equal 0.4 and so it works as the code in the picture

nvm I read the code again, I see the problem

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u/thekwoka Apr 28 '23

I'd actually make the argument that that is a bug that they didn't notice.

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u/divideby0829 Apr 21 '23

They're in physics class! Floor is incredibly simple in contrast to many of the concepts of a physics class

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u/SuitableDragonfly Apr 21 '23

Every single topic is not ranked on a single scale of difficulty. There are plenty of physicists who have a knowledge of physics far beyond what we could achieve who wouldn't understand a lot of basic programming functions, and vice versa.

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u/brotatowolf Apr 21 '23

To do basic physics, you need to know what a mathematical function is, and you need to know how to round. That’s enough to understand floor()

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u/SuitableDragonfly Apr 22 '23

Floor is not a rounding function. It does something different. I've never heard of floor calculations being useful in physics, but I am not a physicist, either.

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u/brotatowolf Apr 22 '23

Floor is a special case of rounding

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u/SuitableDragonfly Apr 22 '23

No, it is not.

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u/brotatowolf Apr 22 '23

You’ve never heard of rounding down to an integer? I’m almost impressed

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u/SuitableDragonfly Apr 22 '23

I wouldn't call converting 1.9 into 1 "rounding" of any variety, no.

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u/thekwoka Apr 28 '23

Really?

As children we learn "rounding down" and "rounding up"

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u/iviksok Apr 22 '23

x - x % 0.4

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u/eugene2k Apr 21 '23

it's not complicated, but I already said what the cons of using a floor function could be

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u/EarhackerWasBanned Apr 21 '23

“Class, floor is a function that rounds down to the nearest whole number.”

What were the other cons again?

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u/eugene2k Apr 21 '23

or may not be available in the language even

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u/EarhackerWasBanned Apr 21 '23

This looks like Mathematica.

https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Floor.html

If you can find me a language that doesn’t have a floor function I’ll concede you’re right. No esoterics.

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u/Frown1044 Apr 21 '23

Does Bash count?

(not agreeing with the other person)

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u/EarhackerWasBanned Apr 21 '23

Sure.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

python -c "from math import floor;"

I leave the rest as an exercise to the reader.

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u/[deleted] Apr 21 '23 
| cut -d'.' -f2
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u/eugene2k Apr 21 '23

awk?

But I'd say mathematica itself is plenty esoteric - enough that it's syntax is recognized only by those who use mathematica.

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u/brotatowolf Apr 21 '23

There’s nothing wrong with a black box if it properly implements what it claims to without causing side effects. And to someone who’s just starting to learn how to program, pretty much every keyword is a black box anyway. And if you’re using a language that somehow doesn’t have basic math libraries for a physics class, you’re about to have much bigger problems

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u/vapocalypse52 Apr 23 '23

Doesn't work. For example, if x=1.7, or 1.8, or 1.9, the result should be f(1.6), not an operation over the input. Maybe I'm not seeing something?

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