POSITION:028,114
COLOUR:STANDARD
TEXT:00,Standard notation is best used to represent atom values in a compact
TEXT:16,form. Atoms can either be a floating point (with a decimal point) or
TEXT:16,integer value (no decimal point) value, and can be either positive or
TEXT:16,negative. Atoms can have a value range of approximately between
TEXT:16,-1e300 and +1e300 (that's -1 followed by 300 zeros to 1 followd by 300
TEXT:16,zeros, inclusive). While chances are good you will never design a program
TEXT:16,that handles such huge numbers, it is nice to have that wide a margin
TEXT:16,to work with.
TEXT:32,The second type of data object is called a sequence, and is a little
TEXT:16,more complex in structure. Sequences are a list of data objects joined
TEXT:16,in the same manner as links on a chain. Each linked data object is
TEXT:16,referred to as an "element". Sequences can be made up of either atoms,
TEXT:16,smaller sequences, or any mixing of both. You can have sequences inside
TEXT:16,of sequences, which in turn are part of bigger sequences, and so on, to
TEXT:16,any level of dimension. Computer memory is the only limiting factor.
