[Rd] request for use cases for larger integers in R

[iuke-tier@ey m@iii@g oii uiow@@edu]

R integers are current limited to a magnitude ot 2^31 - 1. Integer
values up to a magnitude of 2^53 can be represented exatcly as
doubles. At times it would be useful to be able to handle larger
values.

Several options for adding support for large integers to R are under
consideration, each with advantages and disadvantages. To help with
deciding how to move forward it would be helpful to have a collection
of use cases where something is either difficult or impossible to
achieve with the current R integer representations. Examples would be
most helpful if they are concrete enough to allow us to build test
cases.

Thanks,

luke

-- 
Luke Tierney
Professor Emeritus
Department of Statistics and
    Actuarial Science
University of Iowa
241 Schaeffer Hall                  email:   luke-tierney using uiowa.edu
Iowa City, IA 52242                 WWW:  http://stat.uiowa.edu