Wim Boot writes:
 > Mike Klein wrote:
 > 
 > >> >BTW: ANSI Smalltalk does not get bit operations wrong for negative numbers
 > >> >since it says the result is undefined.  Being silent ~= being wrong.
 > >> 
 > >> OK, it doen't get the operations wrong, but IMHO remaining silent on a
 > >> topic like this _is_ wrong. 
 > >
 > >I disagree.
 > >
 > >The whole idea of a "sign bit" for mathematical integers is flawed.
 >

[examples deleted]

 > This works for all integers and is completely independent of
 > representation. Common two's complement hardware only allows
 > for a very efficient implentation of these operations.


But what is a bit, when you are talking about numbers?  Just the fact
of having bits at all means the VM is promissing bit-style behavior to
an application.  (Of course, the VM is free to implement it any way it
wants internally).

 
Lex