fracx

fracx is an open-source library that provides exact arithmetic with fractions and rational numbers. It offers a native fraction type and operations that yield exact results rather than floating-point approximations, making it suitable for computational mathematics, symbolic computation, and education-focused tools.

Core features include a fraction type composed of a numerator and denominator, normalization to lowest terms, and a positive denominator. It supports arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), comparisons, and hashing. The library uses arbitrary-precision integers to avoid overflow and includes parsing from strings, formatting to readable strings, and serialization to formats such as JSON and binary encodings.

The design emphasizes correctness and predictability. Fractions are stored in reduced form after every operation, with constructors performing validation such as handling zero denominators. The API provides conversion utilities to float and decimal with controlled rounding, and bindings or wrappers to integrate with host languages.

Usage scenarios span education software, computer algebra systems, simulations requiring exact arithmetic, and financial or scientific applications where exact fractional results are necessary. fracx is designed to be embedded in applications written in languages such as C++, Python, and JavaScript, or used as a standalone component in environments that require precise rational arithmetic.

Development and licensing: fracx is maintained by an international community of contributors and released under a permissive open-source license. The project emphasizes thorough documentation, unit tests, and governance that invites community participation. Reception notes generally praise its correctness and clarity, while noting the typical trade-off in performance for very large numerator/denominator values due to big-integer arithmetic.

See also: Rational number, exact arithmetic, fraction.