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Bug #35319 modulo operator is not coherent with mathematical definition
Submitted: 2005-11-21 22:12 UTC Modified: 2005-11-21 23:56 UTC
From: ian at euona dot com Assigned:
Status: Not a bug Package: Math related
PHP Version: 5.0.5 OS: Win XP
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
 [2005-11-21 22:12 UTC] ian at euona dot com
Description:
------------
This is the same problem as stated in reports 20365 and 29822. This is indeed not bogus, PHP, C and Javascript are NOT producing the mathematical correct result. Per definition modulus arithmetics create a ring structure containing the values [0,1,...,(n-1)]. THERE ARE NO NEGATIVE NUMBERS! The current behavior is not intuitive and basically incorrect. An integer typecast is not the same as floor.

This is a big problem when shifting table fields (e.g. weekdays). Take a look at spreadsheet software.

//This is the way % should behave
function math_mod($a,$n){$n=abs($n);if($n===0){return NULL;}return $a-$n*floor($a/$n);}

//this function emulates ($a%$n)
function php_mod($a,$n){return $a-$n*(int)($a/$n);} 

Reproduce code:
---------------
echo -5%7 , ' ', fmod(-5,7),' ', 1%0,' ', 3%-2;


Expected result:
----------------
2 2 NULL 1

Actual result:
--------------
-5 -5 NULL 1

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 [2005-11-21 23:48 UTC] sniper@php.net
This is still bogus just for the same reasons as before.
Also, RTFM.

 [2005-11-21 23:56 UTC] ian at euona dot com
Just because TFM says it is used that way it does not make it less unintuitive. Math should be the basis of programming languages and if PHP wants to be taken seriously this issue should be addressed.
STFW
 
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