use integer vs. use bigint

There is one small difference between "use integer" and "use bigint": the former will not affect assignments to variables and the return value of some functions. "bigint" truncates these results to integer too:

        # perl -Minteger -wle 'print 3.2'
        3.2
        # perl -Minteger -wle 'print 3.2 + 0'
        3
        # perl -Mbigint -wle 'print 3.2'
        3
        # perl -Mbigint -wle 'print 3.2 + 0'
        3
        # perl -Mbigint -wle 'print exp(1) + 0'
        2
        # perl -Mbigint -wle 'print exp(1)'
        2
        # perl -Minteger -wle 'print exp(1)'
        2.71828182845905
        # perl -Minteger -wle 'print exp(1) + 0'
        2

In practice this makes seldom a difference as parts and results of expressions will be truncated anyway, but this can, for instance, affect the return value of subroutines:

    sub three_integer { use integer; return 3.2; }
    sub three_bigint { use bigint; return 3.2; }
    print three_integer(), " ", three_bigint(),"\n";    # prints "3.2 3"

Options

bigint recognizes some options that can be passed while loading it via use. The options can (currently) be either a single letter form, or the long form. The following options exist:

a or accuracy

This sets the accuracy for all math operations. The argument must be greater than or equal to zero. See Math::BigInt's bround() function for details.

        perl -Mbigint=a,2 -le 'print 12345+1'
    

Note that setting precision and accuracy at the same time is not possible.

p or precision

This sets the precision for all math operations. The argument can be any integer. Negative values mean a fixed number of digits after the dot, and are <B>ignored</B> since all operations happen in integer space. A positive value rounds to this digit left from the dot. 0 or 1 mean round to integer and are ignore like negative values.

See Math::BigInt's bfround() function for details.

        perl -Mbignum=p,5 -le 'print 123456789+123'
    

Note that setting precision and accuracy at the same time is not possible.

t or trace

This enables a trace mode and is primarily for debugging bigint or Math::BigInt.

hex

Override the built-in hex() method with a version that can handle big integers. This overrides it by exporting it to the current package. Under Perl v5.10.0 and higher, this is not so necessary, as hex() is lexically overridden in the current scope whenever the bigint pragma is active.

oct

Override the built-in oct() method with a version that can handle big integers. This overrides it by exporting it to the current package. Under Perl v5.10.0 and higher, this is not so necessary, as oct() is lexically overridden in the current scope whenever the bigint pragma is active.

l, lib, try or only

Load a different math lib, see "Math Library".

        perl -Mbigint=lib,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
        perl -Mbigint=try,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
        perl -Mbigint=only,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
    

Currently there is no way to specify more than one library on the command line. This means the following does not work:

        perl -Mbignum=l,GMP,Pari -e 'print 2 ** 512'
    

This will be hopefully fixed soon ;)

v or version

This prints out the name and version of all modules used and then exits.

        perl -Mbigint=v
    

Math Library

Math with the numbers is done (by default) by a module called Math::BigInt::Calc. This is equivalent to saying:

        use bigint lib => 'Calc';

You can change this by using:

        use bignum lib => 'GMP';

The following would first try to find Math::BigInt::Foo, then Math::BigInt::Bar, and when this also fails, revert to Math::BigInt::Calc:

        use bigint lib => 'Foo,Math::BigInt::Bar';

Using "lib" warns if none of the specified libraries can be found and Math::BigInt did fall back to one of the default libraries. To suppress this warning, use "try" instead:

        use bignum try => 'GMP';

If you want the code to die instead of falling back, use "only" instead:

        use bignum only => 'GMP';

Please see respective module documentation for further details.

Internal Format

The numbers are stored as objects, and their internals might change at anytime, especially between math operations. The objects also might belong to different classes, like Math::BigInt, or Math::BigInt::Lite. Mixing them together, even with normal scalars is not extraordinary, but normal and expected.

You should not depend on the internal format, all accesses must go through accessor methods. E.g. looking at $x->{sign} is not a good idea since there is no guaranty that the object in question has such a hash key, nor is a hash underneath at all.

Sign

The sign is either '+', '-', 'NaN', '+inf' or '-inf'. You can access it with the sign() method.

A sign of 'NaN' is used to represent the result when input arguments are not numbers or as a result of 0/0. '+inf' and '-inf' represent plus respectively minus infinity. You will get '+inf' when dividing a positive number by 0, and '-inf' when dividing any negative number by 0.

Method calls

Since all numbers are now objects, you can use all functions that are part of the BigInt API. You can only use the bxxx() notation, and not the fxxx() notation, though.

But a warning is in order. When using the following to make a copy of a number, only a shallow copy will be made.

        $x = 9; $y = $x;
        $x = $y = 7;

Using the copy or the original with overloaded math is okay, e.g. the following work:

        $x = 9; $y = $x;
        print $x + 1, " ", $y,"\n";     # prints 10 9

but calling any method that modifies the number directly will result in both the original and the copy being destroyed:

        $x = 9; $y = $x;
        print $x->badd(1), " ", $y,"\n";        # prints 10 10
        $x = 9; $y = $x;
        print $x->binc(1), " ", $y,"\n";        # prints 10 10
        $x = 9; $y = $x;
        print $x->bmul(2), " ", $y,"\n";        # prints 18 18

Using methods that do not modify, but test that the contents works:

        $x = 9; $y = $x;
        $z = 9 if $x->is_zero();                # works fine

See the documentation about the copy constructor and "=" in overload, as well as the documentation in BigInt for further details.

Methods

inf()

A shortcut to return Math::BigInt->binf(). Useful because Perl does not always handle bareword "inf" properly.

NaN()

A shortcut to return Math::BigInt->bnan(). Useful because Perl does not always handle bareword "NaN" properly.

e

        # perl -Mbigint=e -wle 'print e'
    

Returns Euler's number "e", aka exp(1). Note that under bigint, this is truncated to an integer, and hence simple '2'.

PI

        # perl -Mbigint=PI -wle 'print PI'
    

Returns PI. Note that under bigint, this is truncated to an integer, and hence simple '3'.

bexp()

        bexp($power,$accuracy);
    

Returns Euler's number "e" raised to the appropriate power, to the wanted accuracy.

Note that under bigint, the result is truncated to an integer.

Example:

        # perl -Mbigint=bexp -wle 'print bexp(1,80)'
    

bpi()

        bpi($accuracy);
    

Returns PI to the wanted accuracy. Note that under bigint, this is truncated to an integer, and hence simple '3'.

Example:

        # perl -Mbigint=bpi -wle 'print bpi(80)'
    

upgrade()

Return the class that numbers are upgraded to, is in fact returning $Math::BigInt::upgrade.

in_effect()

        use bigint;
        print "in effect\n" if bigint::in_effect;       # true
        {
          no bigint;
          print "in effect\n" if bigint::in_effect;     # false
        }
    

Returns true or false if "bigint" is in effect in the current scope.

This method only works on Perl v5.9.4 or later.