Description
Description
This RFC proposes serializing a number to string while avoiding exponential notation.
The default behavior for JavaScript runtimes when serializing either very large (>=10^21) or very small (<10^-6) numbers to a string is to convert them to exponential notation. E.g.,
In [1]: (1 * base.pow(10,308)).toString()
Out[1]: '1e+308'
In [2]: (1 * base.pow(10,-323)).toString()
Out[2]: '1e-323'However, in certain circumstances, you may want to avoid serializing to exponential notation and may prefer printing all digits (e.g., see discussion).
For example, the following may be desirable behavior
var str = serialize( 1e50 );
// returns '100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000'This RFC proposes to add support for such behavior.
Package: @stdlib/number/to-string (?)
alias: number2string
Related Issues
No.
Questions
Built-in Number.prototype.toString( [radix] ) supports an optional radix argument. The proposed API would also support this argument, but also support an options object.
/**
* Serializes a number to a string.
*
* @param {(PositiveInteger|Options)} [options] - radix or options
* @param {PositiveInteger} [options.radix] - radix
* @param {boolean} [options.exponential=true] - boolean indicating whether to serialize very large and very small values to exponential notation
* @throws {TypeError} must provide either a positive integer or an options object
* @throws {TypeError} must provide valid options
* @throws {RangeError} radix must be a positive integer on the interval [2, 36]
* @returns {string} serialized number
*/
function number2string( options ) {
// implementation...
}Questions:
- Is overloading the existing built-in API desirable?
- Should serializing a number to a string in non-exponential format be a different package? If so, what would be that package's name?
Other
Prior art:
Checklist
- I have read and understood the Code of Conduct.
- Searched for existing issues and pull requests.
- The issue name begins with
RFC:.