Ask Your Question

# Standard use of underscores in numerals

Hello, Sage Community!

Since Python (and pretty soon Sage) supports underscores in numbers, like in 11_000_000, as an alternative to 11000000, I was wondering if Sage or Python have any requirement or standard style for their use.

Let me explain, in English, the 11000000 is written 11,000,000, so i could write it as 11_000_000 in Sage. However, in Spanish, we use a small space after every thee-digit group, except if the number is four digits long. Also, the integer and the decimal parts are treated separatedly. For example:

• 4,321 is written as 4321, because it only has four digits, so I should write 4321 in Sage.
• 54,321 is written as 54 321 (with a small space between 4 and 3), so I should write 54_321 in Sage.
• 21, 1234 is written as 21,123 (because the integer part has only two digits, and the decimal part has only four), so I should write 21.1234 in Sage.

However, if I were to work with an international team of people, I suppose there should be some standard, because some will write 4_321 and 21.123_4, while I will write 4321 and 21.1234.

Is there any standard for using underscores in Sage numerals?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

32.12345 is written as

edit retag close merge delete

## Comments

It doesn't seem all that worth worrying about to me. How much is this actually used? I don't think having thousands separators are all that useful for numbers beyond a certain size anyways (I think above trillions it starts to get hard to comprehend even with them). But maybe I'm wrong.

( 2019-12-05 05:09:57 -0600 )edit

## 1 answer

Sort by » oldest newest most voted

Sage does not have any precise recommandation about that. I guess you should just follow Python's PEP 515/, which is not that strict either.

more

## Comments

I would remove the word "precise" from your answer.

( 2019-12-01 21:17:33 -0600 )edit

## Your Answer

Please start posting anonymously - your entry will be published after you log in or create a new account.

Add Answer

## Stats

Asked: 2019-12-01 14:47:05 -0600

Seen: 29 times

Last updated: Dec 01