Re: [xml-dev] Adam Bosworth Article - what does "directaccess"m ean?

Joe English scripsit:

> Not necessarily: the infix operator "-" can easily be
> defined as an operation on strings.   Parse the left and
> right operands as numbers (raising an error if they're not
> syntactically valid), subtract one from the other, then
> format the result as a string.

Indeed, you can go further, using the REXX approach, where arithmetic
is defined *directly* on (suitably) restricted strings, with no concept
of conversion (except conversion between individual *digits* and
numbers, which can be done by a table).  The same algorithms are used
that we learned in primary school.

-- 
Knowledge studies others / Wisdom is self-known;      John Cowan
Muscle masters brothers / Self-mastery is bone;       
Content need never borrow / Ambition wanders blind;   www.ccil.org/~cowan
Vitality cleaves to the marrow / Leaving death behind.    --Tao 33 (Bynner)