A comparison is an evaluation of similarities and differences - described by Gregory Bateson in his book Mind and Nature as the two quanta of experience.

In computer programming

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In computer programming, when one compares the two values x and y, a negative number often indicates x < y, zero x == y and a positive number x > y. Even when two values are not integers, e.g. literal strings, this convention is largely adopted. For example, strcmp returns -1, 0, or 1 according to the lexicographical order, and qsort expects the comparison function to return values according to this convention. This is because it is efficient to do the subtraction x - y resulting in the directional signs above. In sorting algorithms, the efficiency of comparison code is critical since it is one of the major factors of sorting performance.

Sometimes, particularly in object-oriented programming, the comparison raises questions of datatypes and inheritance, equality and identity. It is often necessary to distinguish between:

• two objects with different datatypes both related to another datatype, e.g. an orange and a lemon, both being citrus fruit
• two different objects of the same type, e.g. two hands
• two objects being equal but distinct, e.g. two $10 banknotes
• two different references to the same object, e.g. two nicknames for the same person

More on [ Comparison ]

NYT > Home & Garden

Away: Satisfying Their Own Judgment
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:20:53 -0000
When Tim and Nina Zagat, owners of the global restaurant and leisure guide company, couldn’t find the perfect second home, they decided to make their own.
Home Work: As Housing Slows, What of Décor-Speak?
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:23:56 -0000
In today’s market, what’s to become of the upscale glossary of home glam — palettes and focal points, inspiration objects and gloriously “ensuite” bathrooms?
Making It Home
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:08:26 -0000
Can the design of a home improve the lives of severely wounded veterans and their families?
At Home With Wayne Coyne: Not Exactly Domesticated
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:07:41 -0000
Wayne Coyne, the rock singer, guitarist and guiding force of the Flaming Lips, lives on an ever-expanding property known in certain circles as the compound.
Move Up? Move Out? Families Squeeze In
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:52:35 -0000
A growing number of well-off families are choosing to live in small apartments in Manhattan because they cannot afford to upgrade and do not want to move to the suburbs.
In the Garden: Summer, Honored and Mourned
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:25:08 -0000
In the garden at this time of year something shifts, as deep as the orbit of the planets, as subtle as the tilt of the earth.

L.A. Times - Home & Garden

Wildflower seeding in the fall can pay off later
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Buying good seeds and sowing now could lead to a spring outburst. But this breed is different from garden varieties, so watch the watering and the weeds. IN NO INSTANCE is the California gardener more richly rewarded than with the autumn planting of wildflower seeds. Buy them now, sow them between Halloween and Christmas, and spring will be marked by a tumbling succession of grace notes.
Fingerprint-scan deadbolt can eliminate need for keys
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
You enter your home after the high-tech gizmo reads your fingerprints. In other words, you can never lock yourself out again, in theory anyway. YOU KNOW, people don't take enough time to sit outside alone and just think. Listen to the birds. Feel the wind on their faces. Wonder when their spouses are coming home to unlock the door.
Christopher Lloyd lists Montecito home at $3.6 million
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The 'Back to the Future' actor's 2,514-square-foot home is near the city's lower village and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Actor Christopher Lloyd is just one of those guys who you know would be a hoot to meet at a cocktail party. The three-time Emmy-winning Lloyd has tons of movie, TV and stage credits -- typically playing oddball characters. You likely know him as the eccentric Emmett "Doc" Brown in the "Back to the Future" franchise, but to me, he'll always be Taber in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). (Gee, was Jack Nicholson in that movie too?)
Design Within Reach adds Tools for Living store
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
After a long emphasis on designer furniture, Design Within Reach has launched Tools for Living, a 1,500-square-foot store adjacent to the Santa Monica DWR with about 900 accessories for the home and office. Tools for Living will focus on "finding contemporary designs that are easy to use and have an honesty of materials, made by undiscovered names from around the world," says buyer Kari Woldum, right, with co-worker Sally Yang. The sleek shop opened last week with standout items that include unembellished linen towels for kitchen and bath by the Japanese firm Fog, and modern ice cream scoops, bottom right. Wool poufs from Holland look as if they must have been made with baseball bat-sized knitting needles. The Tools for Living concept has already sparked an online parody by Rob Price and Kathy Park of the New York firm Thwart Design , www.thwartdesign.com . " Tools for Dying plays on the idea of extending the reach of design even further -- 6 feet under," says Price, who created the popular Web page (including a satirical take on George Nelson's midcentury clocks, left) as a sequel to his 2005 send-up, Design Without Reach . Says Tools for Living's Woldum: "They didn't really research what we would be carrying in the store, but imitation is flattering, and we loved the spoof." 332 Santa Monica Blvd.; (310) 458-0543; www.dwr.com .
A Culver City community carves out its place
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Starting in the '50s, the vocal enclave pushed for parks, schools and a better life. IT WAS the 1950s, and developer Stone & Stone began building the first homes in an area that had been an oil field. At the nearby ranch of Will Rogers Jr., actors and actresses learned to rope and ride for the many westerns that Culver City studios were churning out. Racial integration, a fight for schools and park space and the desire for a better life played out in newly established Blair Hills, as it did in many other communities across the country.
That frisky fall feeling
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Counting his blessings, and being thankful for sweater weather. IT'S RAINING T'S RAINING steadily -- in the key of B flat -- the drops pinging against the windows and burping down the downspouts. Honestly, I don't know how much more of this winter weather I can take.

Christian Science Monitor | The Home Forum

Over the hedge: Big responsibilities for a very small 'groom'
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A young member of a wedding party wasn't sure he was up to the task he was given.
My neighbor is running for president
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Barack Obama? Oh sure, he's just a guy from the next block over.
No longer so incensed about incentivized
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
In the wake of the Wall Street bailout deal, the Monitor's language columnist considers the vocabulary of motivation.
Soul of the city
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A Christian Science perspective on daily life.
The bonus of vacationing with dogs
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
If the dachshunds hadn't barked excitedly at the passing trains, we might never have noticed the Keddie Y.
No way, no how, no pain
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
A Christian Science perspective on daily life.

Denver Post: Lifestyle

Men for the Cure light up stogies for a good cause
jadavidson@denverpost.com (By Joanne Davidson / The Denver Post) Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:50:50 -0600
"Look both ways before crossing" is always good advice, whether it pertains to streets or airport runways. Yep, airport runways.
Ask Amy
editor@denverpost.com (By Amy Dickinson / Tribune Media Services) Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:48:08 -0600
Dear Amy: I recently moved into an apartment with three other girls. When I arrived, I asked if there were any rules I needed to know.
A sunny-side-up market
ejeerson@denverpost.com (By Elana Ashanti Jefferson / The Denver Post) Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:14:02 -0600
Solar solace: In this down economy, photovoltaic and energy-efficient upgrades can be golden parachutes for homeowners hoping to sell or build their equity.

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