BigInt bool assign

[Timon Gehr]

On 12/24/2011 12:31 AM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> On Friday, December 23, 2011 23:52:00 Timon Gehr wrote:
>> There is really no problem with that. I have never seen anyone complain
>> about implicit bool ->  int conversion. Why do you think it is bad? Does
>> anyone have an example to back up the claim that it is bad?
>
> They're completely different types and mean completely different things. It's
> one thing to convert from a narrower integer to a wider one, but bool is _not_
> an integer. Would you implicitly convert a string to an int? No. It's not a
> number. I don't see any reason to treat bool any differently on that count.
> bool isn't a number either. It's true or it's false. The problem is that C
> conflated bool with int, and on some level that behavior still exists in D. But
> bool and int are two entirely different types and entirely different concepts.
>
> - Jonathan M Davis

Entirely different concepts? oO

bool and int are in no way 'entirely different concepts'. Both are 
fields. bool is (Z_2, ^, &) , int is (Z_(2^32), +, *). string is 
conceptually a monoid.

Boolean algebra is the algebra of two values. At least in computer 
science or digital design, those two values are 0 and 1. If there are 
implicit conversions in a language at all, implicit bool -> int is a 
natural thing to do. There is no such argument for string -> int.