<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Let me explain this a bit further:<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Swift generic programming is very different from C++ template programming. Swift compiler needs to type-check generic code on spot, not while instantiating the template (because in Swift, instantiation can occur at runtime if the generic code is from a different module).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This means that it should know what operations will be supported on the type being extended. Your `Signumable` defines only a single function. IF you extend `Signumable` to provide an implementation, you can’t refer to any function other than `sgn()`, but you need more to be able to implement sin(). This is don though generic constraints. You need to constrain the type to which your extension applies. The minimal contains that you need are: `ExpressibleByIntegerLiteral` and `Comparable` so that you can write the algorithm as follow:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The way you wrote it, would require more defined operations (subtraction):</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">protocol</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> Signumable</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">{</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">func</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> sgn() -> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Self</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; min-height: 13px;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #4f8187" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">where</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">Self</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">: ExpressibleByIntegerLiteral & Comparable</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">{</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">func</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> sgn()</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> -> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #4f8187" class="">Self</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> {</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">if</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #272ad8" class="">0</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #3e1e81" class=""><</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">self </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">{ </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">return</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #272ad8" class="">1</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> }</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">if</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">self</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #3e1e81" class=""><</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #272ad8" class="">0 </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">{ </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">return</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #272ad8" class="">-1</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> }</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">return</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #272ad8" class="">0</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""> }</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo;" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">}</span></div></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">This can <b class=""><i class="">potentially</i></b> work on any integer (including unsigned) and floating point type and any other type that happens to support those two protocols. But it does not work yet, because those types do not automatically conform to `Signumable`. To make them conform you need a bit of boilerplate:</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Int</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Int8</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Int16</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Int32</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Int64</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">UInt</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">UInt8</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">UInt16</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">UInt32</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">UInt64</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Float32</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Float64</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Menlo; color: rgb(79, 129, 135);" class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #ba2da2" class="">extension</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #703daa" class="">Float80</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">: </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class="">Signumable</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""> {}</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; color: #000000" class="">The problem is, if a new numeric type is defined say a <a href="https://gist.github.com/hooman/6e08c48e1e06ee19e06e5b09f664f9be" class="">rational number type</a>, it won’t conform automatically and you will have to declare its conformance as above. For this reason, it is better to try to find an existing standard protocol to extend instead of introducing your own protocol for such things.</span></div></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="">So, as others suggested, it is better to extend the existing `SignedNumber` protocol instead of introducing your own `Signumable`, <i style="font-weight: bold;" class="">unless</i> if you need to write other generic algorithms that need your protocol as their constraints.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Nov 19, 2016, at 6:44 PM, Rick Mann via swift-users <<a href="mailto:swift-users@swift.org" class="">swift-users@swift.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="">I'm trying to do this:<br class=""><br class="">protocol Signumable<br class="">{<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>func sgn() -> Self<br class="">}<br class=""><br class="">extension Signumable<br class="">{<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>func<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>sgn()<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>-> Self<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>{<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>let pos = 0 < self<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>// Error<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>let neg = self < 0<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>// Error<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>let p = pos ? Self(1) : Self(0)<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>let n = neg ? Self(1) : Self(0)<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>return p - n<br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>}<br class="">}<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">extension Double : Signumable {}<br class=""><br class="">But I get<br class=""><br class="">Binary operator '<' cannot be applied to operands of type 'Int' and 'Self'<br class=""><br class="">I figure there should be additional constraints on Signumable.<br class=""><br class="">Help would be much appreciated!<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">-- <br class="">Rick Mann<br class=""><a href="mailto:rmann@latencyzero.com" class="">rmann@latencyzero.com</a><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">_______________________________________________<br class="">swift-users mailing list<br class="">swift-users@swift.org<br class="">https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-users<br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div></body></html>