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by xwvvvvwx 3099 days ago
Ternary logic is a pretty niche thing. As I understand it the claimed benefit is improved efficiency / elegance for some mathematical operations when run on a ternary computer.

However since all modern hardware is binary, the use of ternary logic only serves to introduce an unnecessary software based translation layer, simultaneously increasing complexity and reducing performance.

I would consider this to be an example of very poor engineering judgement. Good software is simple software. I would be extremely concerned if a colleague suggested such needless overcomplication.

2 comments

I would not consider in poor engineering judgement. It is a judgement yes. By using binary, you don't need conversion but lose computational power. By using ternary, you lose thru conversion but gain computational power.

In the end of the day, you have to choose as a dev.

So to your point, I don't consider it a red flag. You can even interpret it as "thinking outside the box". Yes ternary is more complex, that's what the devs are here for.

> By using ternary, you lose thru conversion but gain computational power.

How does that work? Isn't it being emulated on binary hardware?

However since all modern hardware is binary

They're actually working on trinary hardware with the closely related JINN project.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1273040.msg13159701#...

How come the links to jinn repos don't work? https://github.com/JinnLabs/