A gentle puzzle I was just asked.

[OriginalGriff]

What is the smallest positive integer minus the largest negative integer?

"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

[den2k88]

0

GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X The shortest horror story: On Error Resume Next

[Lost User]

Well, considering the smallest negative integer is infinite…

[Richard Andrew x64]

Infinity - if you're talking about real numbers.

The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

[Lost User]

Well, considering the largest negative integer tends to infinity…

[Rich Leyshon]

Undefined, tending to infinity???

[obermd]

Arithmetic Overflow. :laugh:

[Amarnath S]

Smallest positive integer = 1 Largest negative integer = -1 Difference is 2.

[dandy72]

If we're talking about whole integers, wouldn't it be minus infinity plus one?

[Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter]

It seems a lot read it wrongly... The art of understanding a question...

"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg

[Rage]

That was my first shot as well, but the answers above cast a big doubt. I am too naive.

Do not escape reality : improve reality !

[OriginalGriff]

Oh? Is -2 bigger than -1 now? :-D

"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

[OriginalGriff]

So which is bigger: -1 or -2?

"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

[OriginalGriff]

Dat's de bunny! :thumbsup: Surprising how many people think -2 is bigger than -1. :-D

"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

[PIEBALDconsult]

Is zero positive?

[Brisingr Aerowing]

Also what I got, mostly as I've had to solve this puzzle in multiple math classes, and was usually the only person to get it right (sadly).

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question? The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism. Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???

[CPallini]

10. Or, possibly, 42.

"In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?" -- Rigoletto

[Jeremy Falcon]

From a comp sci and data representation perspective, yes. Not sure about the math perspective.

Jeremy Falcon

[Jeremy Falcon]

It's always 42; we just didn't invent the math yet to get us there.

Jeremy Falcon

[OriginalGriff]

From a math perspective, zero is neither positive nor negative: Negative number - Wikipedia[^]

"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!