Re: [Json] Limitations on number size?

["Peter F. Patel-Schneider" <[e-mail]>]

On 07/09/2013 03:19 PM, Jorge Chamorro wrote:
> On 09/07/2013, at 23:24, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>> Imagine my surprise when I was told that my reasoning was not correct.
> A "JSON number" is a *text* not a number:

OK, OK.  A JSON number represents a number.   I'm guilty of not being 
appropriately pedantic.

But everything that I've read about JSON indicates that JSON is supposed to be 
used for (portably) interchanging data.  If all there is to JSON is the 
grammar then what's the point of JSON?

>
> number = [ minus ] int [ frac ] [ exp ]
>
>           decimal-point = %x2E       ; .
>
>           digit1-9 = %x31-39         ; 1-9
>
>           e = %x65 / %x45            ; e E
>
>           exp = e [ minus / plus ] 1*DIGIT
>
>           frac = decimal-point 1*DIGIT
>
>           int = zero / ( digit1-9 *DIGIT )
>
>           minus = %x2D               ; -
>
>           plus = %x2B                ; +
>
>           zero = %x30                ; 0
>
> A character representation of a number that follows the rules in the RFC 4627 that -unlike ECMAScript- doesn't say a thing about its precision, integer-ness, floating-point-ness, allowable ranges or the likes.

And neither does the BNF for numeric types in most programming languages, 
including ECMAScript.   The BNF syntax for numbers in ECMAScript permits 
arbitrarily long sequences of digits.   As far as I can recall C, C++, and ML 
all have the same characteristic.

What is (surprisingly) missing in JSON is a firm notion of the data being 
represented by the syntax.   A pale shadow of this issue for strings appears 
to have been consuming this working for quite some time.
>
>
> To say that a "JSON number" (which is a text) is === IEEE-754 double doesn't make too much sense.

OK, then, what I inferred was that a JSON number represents an IEEE floating 
point double and I was very surprised to find out that this was not the case.


Peter F. Patel-Schneider
>
>
> JSON.stringify(number:number) -> text:JSON_number
> JSON.parse(text:JSON_number)  -> number:number