use-rational

use-rational provides a deliberately small exact-fraction surface. The crate prefers one canonical representation: denominators are kept positive, reducible fractions are normalized, and arithmetic that cannot stay exact within the current integer representation returns explicit errors instead of silently widening into floating-point behavior.

What this crate provides

Area	Root exports	Best fit
Canonical fractions	`Rational`, `RationalError`	Exact reduced fractions without a broader numeric framework
Checked arithmetic	`checked_add`, `checked_sub`, `checked_mul`, `checked_div`, `reciprocal`	Exact operations where invalid denominators and overflow stay explicit
Integer and floating conversions	`from_integer`, `as_f64`, `is_integer`	Boundaries between exact and approximate numeric workflows

If you need to...	Start here
Build a validated fraction from two integers	`Rational::try_new(...)`
Lift an integer into an exact rational	`Rational::from_integer(...)`
Keep exact arithmetic explicit	`checked_add(...)`, `checked_mul(...)`, and friends
Move to an approximate representation deliberately	`as_f64()`

When to use it directly

Choose use-rational directly when fractions or exact rational-number support are the only math surface you need, or when you want exact arithmetic to stay separate from the broader facade.

Scenario	Use `use-rational` directly?	Why
You need exact normalized fractions	Yes	The crate stays narrow and explicit
You want division-by-zero and overflow surfaced as errors	Yes	Arithmetic stays checked instead of implicit
You need generic numeric traits across many number kinds	Usually no	Those belong in adjacent focused crates
You are happy to lose exactness immediately	Usually no	`use-real` may be the better fit

Installation

[dependencies]
use-rational = "0.0.1"

Quick examples

Build and normalize exact fractions

use use_rational::Rational;

let half = Rational::try_new(2, 4)?;
let negative = Rational::try_new(3, -9)?;

assert_eq!(half, Rational::try_new(1, 2)?);
assert_eq!(negative, Rational::try_new(-1, 3)?);
assert_eq!(half.numerator(), 1);
assert_eq!(half.denominator(), 2);
# Ok::<(), use_rational::RationalError>(())

Keep exact arithmetic explicit

use use_rational::Rational;

let half = Rational::try_new(1, 2)?;
let third = Rational::try_new(1, 3)?;

assert_eq!(half.checked_add(third)?, Rational::try_new(5, 6)?);
assert_eq!(half.checked_div(third)?, Rational::try_new(3, 2)?);
assert!((half.as_f64() - 0.5).abs() < 1.0e-12);
# Ok::<(), use_rational::RationalError>(())

Validation model

Use try_new when numerators and denominators may come from user input, files, or network payloads. Use exact helpers like from_integer, zero, and one when the value is already known to be valid.

[!IMPORTANT] This crate does not silently cross into floating-point arithmetic. Exact arithmetic stays exact until a caller explicitly asks for as_f64().

Scope

Small exact-fraction APIs are preferred over broad trait-heavy abstractions.
The initial concrete surface focuses on canonical normalization and checked exact arithmetic.
Generic numeric hierarchies and symbolic algebra are intentionally out of scope for this first slice.
Broader integer and algebra abstractions belong in adjacent focused crates.

Status

use-rational is a concrete pre-1.0 crate in the RustUse docs surface. The API remains intentionally small while the broader rational-number roadmap is still being designed.

use-rational 0.0.6