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   Simon Brooke (simon_brooke@mastodon.scot)'s status on Saturday, 05-Jul-2025 08:38:27 JST Simon Brooke

   @vashti and this is why we shouldn't store numbers in fixed width fields, or compute using 32 or 64 or 128 bit or any other fixed size integers.

   Bignum arithmetic has been a solved problem in computing since Maclisp in the 1960s.

   #Lisp

   • Embed this notice
     Rich Felker (dalias@hachyderm.io)'s status on Saturday, 05-Jul-2025 08:38:26 JST Rich Felker

     in reply to

     @simon_brooke @vashti Bignum is not useful here. As identifiers, 128 bit is already aphysical if assigned sequentially. 256 bit if assigned randomly.

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     Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell: (lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me)'s status on Saturday, 05-Jul-2025 09:03:11 JST Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell:

     in reply to

     • Rich Felker

     @dalias @simon_brooke @vashti Yeah, possible to math it out, in 128 bits there's enough for say 2^64 humans (we're at roughly 2×(2^32), so nowhere close), each doing whatever kind of interaction within 2^64 which can be one per second and IIRC that largely contains big bang to heat death of universe.