Is there a way to force more strict variable types

Squirrel Code
1

Here is some example code:
`
testinteger1 <- 1;
testinteger3 <-3;
testdecimal3 <- 3.0;

myresult <- testinteger1/testinteger3;

server.log(myresult1); //0
server.log(myresult1.00000001); //0

server.log(testinteger1/testinteger31.01); //0
server.log(testinteger1/(testinteger31.01));//0.330033
server.log(testinteger1/testdecimal3); //0.333333
`

returns

Sunday, March 03, 2013 1:37:31 PM: 0
Sunday, March 03, 2013 1:37:31 PM: 0
Sunday, March 03, 2013 1:37:31 PM: 0
Sunday, March 03, 2013 1:37:31 PM: 0.330033
Sunday, March 03, 2013 1:37:31 PM: 0.333333

It is not obvious how to control the variable type.

This has been causing me some frustration because values I am calculating are sometimes lost. If I were in straight C I could logically set up the variable types and figure out exactly what is going on. (even if I need help from the forums).

In Squirrel-Language I gather it is considered some advantage to have dynamic typing but I find it hard to get used to.

any advice or comment?

thanks!

2

Expressions work just the same way as “straight C”: if either operand is float, the result is float, otherwise it’s integer. In your example, testinteger1, testinteger3, and myresult are therefore integers, and testdecimal3 is a float. Your log messages are an integer zero, a float zero, a second float zero, and then two float nonzeroes.

The expression testinteger1/testinteger3*1.01 is evaluated left-to-right: the result of the division is integer zero, and multiplying that by float 1.01 results in float zero. Just like in C (though some compilers will issue a warning on that code: “narrower precision in wider context” or suchlike).

You can use Squirrel’s “typeof” operator to give you hints about what’s going on.

Peter

3

This function returns 20
although the answer is really 20.25

What would be a good practice to return 20.25 from this function?

`function getTempinC(){

    local tempC = 0.0;
    
    tempC =  ((CurrentTemp)/SCALE)
    
    return tempC;
    
}

SCALE <- 65536;
CurrentTemp <- 1327104

server.log (getTempinC());
`

4

It seems to me that setting
SCALE <- 65536.0
and/or
CurrentTemp <- 1327104.0
would return your desired value. (I did not test this, however…)

5

yes that should work. I have been trying to do all the math for my code in integers. Maybe just for my relatively infrequent reporting function I can find a way to get one of the values to floating point before doing the calculation.

6

Floats are not that slow in squirrel - this isn’t an atmega :slight_smile: